Following Destiny
by SakuraJade
Summary: A more serious take on the original series. Starts after their first mission and deviates from there, although some of it is original and some of it is stuff that happened but altered. Deals with W&L getting together. Bigger summary inside.
1. A New Life

**A/N** (authors note): Okay so I used to love Captain Planet when I was younger and recently I was really in the mood for some good old CP so I dusted off some of the VHS tapes I made of it back in the day when it was on tv and watched them. Then I decided to see what kind of fanfiction was available and was sad to see only three pages worth on ! I usually write more for anime but since there is such a lack of CP fics and it was such a timeless show I figured I would try my hand at writing one so here it is.

**Plot**: Basically my whole thing is that Gaia randomly took them and made them planeteers in the course of a day and personally I think it would be a little hard to adjust to such a big change in the blink of an eye. The planeteers did have lives before they suddenly joined up to fight eco-villains. So this story is kind of a re-write of the original show (but don't get it wrong, I'm not re-writing the episodes exactly, just more of a different take on it), showing more depth and character development to the planeteers and accounting for the lives they have outside of Hope Island. From the fics available I get the impression that more people care to read about the planeteers anyway then Captain Planet himself (although he will be in it). Needless to say Linka and Wheeler are by far my fav characters (not that I don't like the others), though I liked that the show was educational and entertaining the cute moments between them were my fav lol and everyone seems to like those two together so a big part of the fic will revolve around their growing relationship so rest assured they will get together, eventually hehehe. It will mostly be about those two developing. Anyway hope you like it, it's no where near finished in my mind and stuff so if anyone wants to offer up suggestions on eco-emergencies to make them deal with, character developments, etc. I would gladly take your suggestions and thoughts into consideration :)

_Disclaimer:_ "I don't own Captain Planet and the Planeteers or anything related to it for that matter, Ted Turner and TBS/Hana-barbara do as far as I know. This story is completely for the fun of writing and sharing."

_italics _means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 1:_ _A New Life_

The Geo-cruiser touched down on the sand outside the crystal chamber room. The newfound team of planeteers had just returned from their very first mission. They had stopped a man named Hoggish Greedly and his sidekick Rigger from stealing oil from a wildlife preservation and causing an oil spill on the animals that lived in and around the river he was drilling in. After Captain Planet, the new eco-friendly super hero only they could apparently summon had chased off Greedly, they were left to clean up his mess which was, though worth it, time consuming and exhausting. The planeteers piled out of the yellow aircraft still rather surprised Gaia was able to supply them with such an effective and environmentally friendly transportation device, but thankful none-the-less.

Gi looked at Kwame, one of her four new teammates and asked, "So what do we do now?"

Though everyone just met earlier that day and didn't really know each other it seemed that Kwame had been silently selected as the leader to which they all looked to make team decisions. His calm demeanor during their mission earlier made him seem level headed and reliable enough at least.

"I think we should head back over to Gaia," he replied heading for the crystal chamber. The rest followed behind him.

The five teenagers entered the hut and looked around for Gaia but saw no one. After a few seconds, the redheaded teen from New York shouted out.

"Hey yo Earth sprit, you wanna come back and tell us what to do now?"

The Russian blonde was appalled by Wheeler's lack of respect for Gaia. "Show some respect, Yankee!"

Wheeler looked at her and put his hands up in defense. "Jeeze, babe, you don't hafta get all bent outta shape." Linka turned her head away from him and crossed her arms over her chest.

Suddenly Gaia appeared in front of them. Ma-Ti was the first to address her. "Gaia, we are back," he said. She smiled at them warmly as she approached the group.

"Yes I can see that, Ma-Ti. I saw your performance through my crystal vision. Well done planeteers you're first mission was a success. You should be proud of yourself, I am." The five teens smiled in reply.

"So what do we do now, Gaia?" Kwame questioned.

Gaia's smile slipped a little as she knew she had to explain everything they would be up against and the changes they would be in for if they choose to continue as planeteers. She got a serious look on her face as she began.

"You all did a wonderful job today, but this is only the beginning. Being a planeteer is a full time job."

Link raised a question. "How will we be able to unite quickly enough to deal with problems when we all live so far apart?"

Gaia looked at her and answered, "You will all have to move here to Hope Island so you can be called on at a moments notice."

Wheeler interrupted, the sound of excitement lacing his voice.

"You mean we'd get to live here? This is like paradise compared to the slum I'm from in New York! And to top it off we get to be some kinda special heroes? You can count me in," he finished.

Gaia looked at him seriously and continued. "There is more to it then living in paradise, Wheeler. Everyday there are environmental issues happening around the world that you will have to deal with and clean up after. It will not be an easy job. You will not be paid for it and often times it is a thankless job. Your life may even be in danger at times. If you are in it for the glory you should rethink that decision."

Wheeler looked down a little embarrassed. Linka quietly spoke, more to herself than to the others although they all heard. "What about our lives back home . . ." she trialed off, her eyes cast down as she said it.

Gaia looked at her with a small look of pity in her eyes. Of the five teenagers she chose, Linka was the one that really had reasons to turn the job down. Kwame and Ma-Ti were orphans. They had friends back home but no real families. Gi had family, but both her parents were always out to sea studying marine life and since she was very preoccupied with the sea herself, she did not have many friends to miss. Wheeler had a family too, but his father was an alcoholic and his neighborhood was just as he said, a slum. He was not close with his family much and though he had friends, most of them were starting to turn into people Wheeler didn't want to be. Drugs and vandalism weren't really his style, but sooner or later if he continued to live there he'd end up just like the rest of them, so staying on Hope Island was a blessing for him.

Linka on the other hand had family that could use her help. Though her mother died of an illness when she was very young and her father a few years back due to a mining incident, she did have her grandmother and her big brother Mishka. They lived on a farm in the Soviet Union and times were really hard, especially with the impending fall of the Soviet Union slowly descending upon them. Not to mention there was Ivan too. She was the only one that was involved with someone back home which would make her decision even harder.

"Well if you decide to do this, you will all return home to get some of your things and to talk to your families and friends about it if you need to. Then you will return here tomorrow and start training with your powers so you can utilize them to the best of your ability. There are huts for you to stay in near here and you will not be without modern luxuries. I'm sure you all have noticed I have many capabilities and so you will have access to such things as running water and a telephone to call your loved ones."

When no one responded Gaia continued, "It is really up to all of you, you don't have to do this. I understand this will be a life altering change and a difficult decision to make but the planet does need you. If nothing is done, the future looks pretty grim for all of us."

Kwame studied the new ring on his hand intently before looking up at Gaia with a look of determination flaring in his eyes. He was the first to answer. "I would be honored to fight to protect our planet." Gaia smiled as Ma-Ti spoke next.

"As would I. Alone we are powerless but together we can really make a difference."

"I'm with the little guy. It might be a tough job but someone's gotta do it. Besides, it's not like I was goin' anywhere back in New York anyway. Now I can really be somebody," Wheeler added, making a fist with his ring hand, a cocky smile on his face.

Gi nodded her head and smiled, "I have always dreamed about being able to make a difference and now that I have been given the chance there's no way I'd pass it up!"

Linka was the only one that hadn't said anything yet. They all looked at her expectantly which made her a little uncomfortable. To avoid their intense gaze Linka looked down at her ring. The thought of having the power to manipulate the wind was intoxicating and being able to make a difference around the world was enticing to say the least. Not to mention her new teammates seemed interesting as well, especially the red-haired guy, but her family and the love of her life were back in the Soviet Union. She looked at the Irish Claddagh ring on her other hand that had the crown facing outward showing her heart was taken. How would Ivan deal with this? Would their relationship be able to withstand something so unexpected and random? What about the distance? She'd never heard good things about long distance relationships . . . And what about herself? Could she bear to be so far from him?

The silence was deafening and it was starting to get to Wheeler. He was holding his breath waiting for her reply. More than the others he was really hoping the beautiful blonde would decide to join them. The minute they appeared on Hope Island he noticed her and it was like an instant attraction. About a couple of weeks back the longest relationship he'd ever been in came to a sudden end when Trish abruptly told him it was over. He really cared for her, but the hardest part was the suddenness of the break up more so than actually losing Trish. They had been dating for a year and a half and though they were great together at first, as time went on they seemed to start drifting apart, especially once they graduated from high school. And then suddenly one night out of the blue Trish said it was over, she needed more than he could give her and that was that, she walked away. For the most part he was over Trish, as it seemed their relationship really ended a long time ago. Staying together was just easier and more comfortable than breaking up and she was the one that finally had the nerve to end it, but since he dated her for so long he was having a harder time letting go of it completely.

He went out to a few clubs with the boys after they broke up trying to meet other girls and forget about Trish but that had proved unsuccessful. In fact, the night Gaia whisked him away to Hope Island, for it had been nighttime in New York at the time, he was on his way back home from a night out with the boys that hadn't lifted his spirits quite as much as he'd hoped. He was thinking about Trish and how different things were now without her in his life, and then in the blink of an eye things got more different than he'd ever imagined. Standing on a tropical island having no idea what the heck just happened, he saw four other people there with him and his heart skipped a beat when his eyes moved over the blonde girl. She looked about his age and possibly European not to mention just as surprised as he did to be there. But most importantly, for a few moments, he forgot about Trish. For having just met, all five of them seemed to work well as a team on the mission they just returned from and he was really hoping she would agree to stay and be part of the team. There was just something . . . different about her.

Not being able to wait any longer for Linka's over due reply he finally spoke up. "So? Whadaya say, babe, you in or what?"

"We really could use you on the team," came Kwame's less offensive statement.

Gi added, "Yeah I really don't want to be the only girl on the team either. It would be great to get to know you."

"So my friend, will you join us too?" Ma-Ti's spoke followed by a smile.

Linka looked at each of them individually, falling on Wheeler last who flashed her a warm, handsome smile. How could she say no?

Linka finally answered, "Da, I am "in" as the Yankee put it."

Wheeler's smile widened, "Alright! Welcome aboard, toots."

Linka gave him a look for calling her "toots" but smiled anyway. Gaia looked pleased that they all decided to take the job.

"Then today begins your new lives as planeteers."

Gaia instructed them all to head to the Geo-cruiser to go home to get their things and return to Hope Island tomorrow evening. That would give them all time to pack and talk to the important people in their lives about it. They all headed to the Geo-Cruiser both excited and apprehensive at the same time. Kwame would keep the Geo-Cruiser and pick them all back up to return to Hope Island tomorrow. Once that was decided, they all buckled up and set out. Silence descended on the group. No one really knew what to say, they were all too preoccupied with their own thoughts about their new futures.

**xXxXxXx**

When Linka arrived home it was already dark and rather late. When she walked into her house her brother immediately came up to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Where have you been, Linka? Nonna and I have been so worried. We called Ivan and he did not know where you were either."

It was good to hear her big brother's voice, something familiar in the middle of her crazy day.

"Mishka, we need to talk . . ."

He looked at her questioningly and she gestured for him to sit down at the kitchen table. As he sat in one of the four chairs she picked up the phone.

"Who are you calling?" Mishka inquired.

Linka started dialing as she replied, "Ivan, he needs to hear this too." After telling him to come over she sat down across from Mishka and tried to collect her thoughts so her story made as much sense as possible.

Before she could speak he pointed at the wind ring on her finger and asked, "Linka, where did you get that new ring?"

"That is actually what I need to talk to you about. This ring is special to say the least."

With that she explained her entire day to her brother who was listening intently to every word she was saying and trying to make sense of it all. Once she finished about her eventful day the first thing Mishka said was, "Wow, you have had a pretty intense day."

Linka nodded in response and the two siblings sat their in silence for a minute before Mishka spoke again. "So, you really want to do this then?"

"It was not an easy decision, Mishka. It is hard for me to just up and leave you, Nonna, and Ivan, but I have to do this. Mishka, the Earth is dying, if I do not help the others, we will all be in trouble in the future . . . That is why I am willing to do this even though it will disrupt my whole life."

Mishka looked down at the wooden table and started tracing one of the many cracks it had acquired over the years with his index finger.

"But you were going to be somebody, Linka. You were going to go to college, you were smart enough to."

Last year was her senior year of high school and she was really looking forward to continuing her education. She loved to learn and college was perfect for her. She worked hard in high school to get grades that would warrant a scholarship since her family could never afford to send her to college. And here she was throwing that away for a job that sounded dangerous with little gratuity to boot.

She sighed and replied, "But, Mishka, I will still be somebody, I will be a planeteer, a person that helps keep the planet safe for everyone. And I can always go to college later, I just graduated from high school. Besides I wanted to study abroad for a while and being a planeteer will take me to more countries and places than I could have ever imagined."

Mishka smiled. "You always did want to travel."

Linka smiled back. "Da I did, and now I will."

The doorbell rang, breaking up the brother sister moment in the kitchen. Linka stood up from her seat. "That would be Ivan." She looked back at Mishka before going to the door. "So, are you okay with this then?"

He rose from his spot at the table and hugged her before saying, "I will always support you. You are my little sister." The doorbell rang again and she left his embrace to go tell her boyfriend the same thing she had just told her brother.

**xXxXxXx**

Wheeler was at his family's apartment in New York City eating some lunch at the table with his mom. Unlike Linka's family, his didn't even notice that he was missing all night, but that was normal. When he got home he was exhausted from the day's events not to mention it had been nighttime when he was taken from New York by Gaia and when he got home it was early morning, so he went straight to bed to get a few hours of sleep before he had to head back out. Now it was a little after noon and he had to tell his parents about his new future as a planeteer and start packing his stuff since Kwame would be back for him in the evening. His dad came into the kitchen in his bathrobe and boxers wanting some food. Once his dad was at the table too he cleared his throat for their attention.

They both looked at him and he causally said, "So last night I was given this ring, taken to an island, and chosen to save the Earth with four other kids like me."

His parents both stared at him then his dad looked at his mother and said, "I told you the kid was getting into drugs with all the rest of the losers he hangs out with, Irene."

Wheeler spoke up before his mom could say anything. "I'm not on drugs, Dad. I'm tellin' you the truth. One of the other guys from the new team will be pickin' me up this evening and from then on I'll be livin' on that island." He paused and waited for a response from his parents.

His mother took a turn to speak, "Save the world from what, son?"

He sighed, "From us, from humans. Apparently we're really doin' a number on our planet and pretty soon it's gonna be completely ruined. So, I've been chosen to help keep that from happenin' with two other guys and two girls, all from different countries. That's what I was doin' last night. We had an "eco-emergency" as Gaia calls it."

"Gaia?" his mother interjected.

"Yeah, the spirit of the Earth."

His dad coughed and looked back down at his sandwich as he said, "If that's not drugs talking I don't know what is."

Wheeler slammed his fist on the table in frustration. "I told you I'm not on drugs, Dad!"

His dad glared at him. "Well you're talking like a lunatic."

Wheeler returned his glared. "I know it sounds weird but I'm tellin' you the truth."

He was half tempted to use his ring to light his father's napkin on fire to prove that he wasn't crazy, but he was afraid that would scare his mom and make his dad even more angry, not that his dad was ever not angry with him.

His father abruptly rose from his seat. "I always knew you weren't going anywhere after high school. You're going to end up a loser, just like all your friends." His father grunted and walked out of the room in a huff.

Wheeler gritted his teeth to keep from saying anything.

His mother noticed and said, "Don't, Wheeler, let him go, you know it only makes things worse when you talk back."

His mother's words deflated him like a balloon. She was right.

Wheeler rose from his seat and headed for the door as he said, "I knew he wouldn't understand."

"Where are you going?" his mother asked.

"To say goodbye to my friends. I'll be back to get my stuff, then I'm outta here." That said he walked out the door.

He headed to the arcade he and his group of friends frequented a few blocks away. There was really no where else to go during the day, no where they could afford anyway. When he walked in his friend Frankie waved him over.

"Hey yo, Wheeler, over here!" Wheeler nodded his head at him and walked over.

"What's up, Frankie?"

Frankie laughed and responded, "Same thing as yesterday and the day before: nothin'. What about you?"

"I'm actually leavin' town, probably for a long time so I wanted to come say goodbye."

Frankie's big smile fell. "Why? What's goin' on? You in some kinda trouble?"

After the reaction his father gave him, he really didn't feel like getting into it again. Besides these guys would probably just think it was a joke anyway. Wheeler was known for being a prankster after all.

"Nah, I just got some things I gotta take care of and I can't do that livin' here."

Frankie's face showed that he had a thought as he said, "It's Trish, isn't it?"

Wheeler wasn't expecting that. "What are you talkin' about?"

Frankie put his hand on his friend's shoulder in sympathy. "Man, I know you two dated for, like, ever but you really gotta get over her and you don't hafta run away to do that."

Wheeler brushed Frankie's hand off of his shoulder and gave his arm a light punch. "Trust me, dude, it ain't Trish. It's much bigger than that stuff."

"Well hey, man, at least keep in touch with all of us who are stuck back here in the ghetto," he said with a teasing tone.

Wheeler smiled a genuine smile. He really would miss Frankie, probably more than anyone else. Certainly more than his father at least.

"I will."

Wheeler did the goofy hand shake they'd been doing for years and he turned to walk out of the arcade.

Frankie shouted after him, "Hey, Wheeler, I always knew you were better than all this! Make sure you make somethin' of yourself, okay?"

Wheeler gave him thumbs up then walked out. He would definitely miss Frankie.

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N**: Well that's the first chapter. I'm going for a more serious tone to the original series b/c lets face it, sometimes it was down right cheesy and I thought it could have been better lol Plus, I don't know, I would definitely think it would take a toll on some of them at least. This would be a huge change! Rest assured this will be finished; I never start something I won't finish. I'm just not fully sure where this is going or how it will end, but I'm all about the Wheeler and Linka so look for them to develop :) Man it was so hard to write for him, I tried to write like he talks, improperly lol And writing grammatical incorrect was really hard for me, I'm a stickler for that stuff. Please remember to review so I can see how readers feel about the story. That's all for now, until next time, see-ya!

_**SakuraJade**_


	2. Readjusting

**A/N:** Thanks for the feedback from chapter one you guys. I'm glad to hear that you feel the backgrounds I've given the characters are adequate and that I'm doing a good job capturing Linka and Wheeler's personalities. Since the CP fandom seems so small I don't expect to get a lot of reviews so I was surprised to see two reviews within hours of posting chapter one! Pretty exciting . . . :) **Oh, for the record, for everyone's actual country in this chapter, I took the info from Wikipedia**. I don't know if it's exactly accurate, but some of the info on there about the planeteers I knew was correct so maybe it's right about their background info. But yeah that's where I got it from for this story, good enough I figure. Plus, in the real show when there was an eco-emergency they never got too into where these places were sometimes, how the villains had the equipment they did (which often times surpassed the technology of the time the show was being made, even today's technology actually), and how they acquire the deadly stuff they shouldn't have either so I'm not gonna waste time trying to get into all of that either most of the time. Hehehe Anyway here's chapter 2!

Disclaimer: "I don't own Captain Planet or the Planeteers."

_Italics_ means thought

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 2:__Readjusting_

Linka watched as the Geo-Cruiser touched down a few yards away. She could see that everyone else was already in there so they would be heading directly back to the island.

She turned to Mishka and said softly, "That is my ride."

They hugged goodbye, then she picked up her luggage and headed towards the yellow aircraft that Kwame and Gi were piloting. Since her family was rather poor, she didn't have a lot to bring to her new home. She had a duffel bag of clothes and shoes, a backpack full of books so she could continue to expand her knowledge, and a smaller suitcase of miscellaneous things. Wheeler was on the side she was heading to so he opened the door for her.

"You need any help there?" he asked, flashing her a genuine smile.

She handed him her duffel bag and thanked him for his help. She turned and waved to Mishka one more time who returned her wave. With that she climbed into the Geo-Cruiser with the help of Wheeler's outstretched hand and sat in the seat across the isle from him.

Kwame turned to look back at her. "Do you have everything?"

Linka didn't say anything afraid her voice would crack and give away how sad she was to be moving away from home. She just nodded her head instead.

Kwame gave her a friendly smile. "Then buckle up, we are heading back to Hope Island."

The young African lifted the gang into the air. Linka looked out the window at her brother waving until she couldn't see him anymore. Once he was out of sight she leaned back in her seat and sighed. Try as she might, she could not stop a tear from escaping and sliding down the side of her smooth cheek. She quickly brushed it away before anyone would see. Unbeknown to her, Wheeler was watching her out of the corner of his eye and as fast as she was, he saw the tear. His face softened with a look of sympathy for the young blonde.

_She's taking this kind of hard . . . _ he thought to himself.

Linka was thinking back on the conversation she had the night before with her boyfriend.

_**(Flashback)**_

They sat on the front porch of her house as she told him of her new found destiny as a planeteer. He remand quiet for a few minutes as he digested the information she had fed him. Finally he said, "So you are just going to up and leave, just like that?"

"Ivan, I have to do this, you do not understand how important this is-"

He cut her off. "And we are not important?"

"No I am not saying that."

"Well it sounds like you are."

She looked down at the ground and whispered, "I am sorry. . . Please understand I would never run off like this if it was not for a very important reason . . ."

After a few seconds he asked, "So where does this leave us?"

She took his hand and looked into his eyes as she replied, "I do not know. It will be tough but I do not want our relationship to end." He looked at the ring on her finger that he had given her and sighed then kissed her hand.

"Neither do I."

Linka smiled faintly, "So does this mean we can try to continue our relationship long distance?" He nodded his head to which Linka threw her arms around him in a fierce hug.

_**(End Flashback) **_

The ride so far had been rather silent so Gi looked back from her seat up front next to Kwame and spoke which snapped Linka out of her reverie.

"So, since we are all a team now maybe we should get to know each other better."

"That is an excellent idea, why don't you go first," Kwame suggested.

"Oh, well okay sure. Let's see . . . well, I'm really into marine life which is probably why I ended up with the water ring I guess. I'm from Japan and I spent a lot of time surfing. My parents are marine biologists so they are actually out to sea a lot so my moving to Hope Island really wasn't such a big deal to them since they're always gone anyway. They were actually kind of excited about my new job," Gi finished with a smile.

Kwame grinned, "My tribe back in Africa, Ghana to be exact, was excited as well. They couldn't believe it when I showed them my ring! They divided my work load up among other members of the tribe, gave me their blessing, and wished me luck with my future as a planeteer. My parents are no longer alive unfortunately, so I did not have to explain it to them. I used to plant a lot of trees for my village and worked in the fields. I enjoyed playing cricket when I had time."

Ma-Ti looked at Kwame from behind Wheelers seat. "My parents are no longer on this planet either, my friend, so I didn't have to face that situation either. My village in Brazil was sad to see me go, especially the Shaman who took me in after my parents passed away, but they understood the responsibility I now hold. I love animals of all sorts and I am happy I was given the heart ring since it allows me to communicate on a whole new level with them. I really like soccer and used to play it all the time back home. The monkey that I left back on the island is Suchi."

Ma-Ti poked Wheeler in the head, "What about you?"

Wheeler rubbed the spot the youngest planeteer poked then placed his hands behind his head as he slouched in his seat.

"Not much to tell. I'm from New York, which I'm assumin' you all know is in the United States, and I hang out at the local arcade durin' the day and night clubs at night. There ain't a whole lot else to do where I live in the city."

Gi looked at him and asked, "How did everyone take the news?"

Wheeler shrugged his shoulders as he answered indifferently, "Meh, my dad thought I was doin' drugs when I tried to explain it to him. My mom made me promise to be careful and keep in touch and I just told my friends I was goin' outta town for a long time since I figured they wouldn't believe me anyway."

Everybody looked at Linka since she had yet to speak. She blinked at the sudden attention then spoke.

"My parents are also gone, but I still have my Grandmother and my big brother. They took it a little hard but better than others. In the end they gave me their blessing. I am from the constituent state of Russia in the Soviet Union. My hobby is bird watching, they are my favorite animals and I really enjoy reading books of all sorts from textbooks so I can learn more to story books for fun. I am also very interested in computer technology."

When Linka said "others" she was referring to Ivan but she did not want to talk about him right now so she stopped at that. The rest of the teens could tell she did not want to continue talking about that subject so they did not press her for more, not even Wheeler, who would have liked to listen to her talk all day because he couldn't get enough of her accent. Still he couldn't stop himself from making a comment.

"Computer technology? Readin'? So you're kind of a brainy chick then, huh?" Wheeler inquired as he leaned towards her from his chair.

Linka eyed him suspiciously as she replied, "I suppose you could say that . . ."

He broke into a flirty smile and rubbed his chin as he stated, "Looks and brains. Hmmmmm, I've never dated a smart babe before."

Linka shot back a cool retort, "I doubt that you ever will either."

Gi giggled up front as Wheeler's smile faltered. He recovered quickly however. "Well bookworm broads were never really my type, but I'd be willin' to make an exception for you, cutie."

"How fortunate for me," Linka countered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

There was some idle chit-chat here and there among some of the teens but for the most part the cabin grew silent again for the duration of the trip. Once they touched down on Hope Island Gaia came out to point them in the direction of their rooms. There were a bunch of huts clustered together with one main entrance and a smaller back door. Everyone had their own rooms to their liking. Each hut was a room and they were all connected to a hallway that ran through the whole structure. There was also a sitting room where they could receive and send mail and make phone calls plus a den adjacent to that with a tv and some furniture for lounging.

They all pulled their stuff out of the Geo-Cruiser and headed to their respected huts to start unpacking their things. Each room had a bed, a night stand, a dresser with a mirror, a desk with a chair, a closet, some shelves, a chest, and a wardrobe for their things. Linka was still unpacking some of her stuff when Gi knocked on her open door. Linka motioned her in and Gi sat on her bed and crossed her legs.

"So you have no idea how happy I am that I'm not the only girl on the team! I don't know what I would do if it was me and all boys," she rolled her eyes and as she spoke.

Linka laughed and nodded her head. "Da, I know what you mean. It would be very strange if I was the only girl."

Gi's smile widened, "Yeah but we are still out numbered so we have to stick together!"

She pumped her fist into the air to punctuate the end of her sentence and Linka nodded her head in agreement. Gi noticed a picture of a handsome man on her night stand. She pointed at it as she asked, "Who's that in the picture?"

Linka looked and replied, "That is Ivan. He is my boyfriend."

"Wow that must have made moving here a bit harder," the young Asian said, frowning slightly.

"Da, it did."

Linka continued to fold a shirt for her drawer as she said, "We have decided to try and continue our relationship and see how it goes."

"I see. He's cute."

Linka blushed a little as she smiled and nodded her head.

"Well, I know it wasn't easy for you but for what it's worth I'm really glad you decided to join the team. The others are too," Gi said as she smiled warmly at Linka. She returned her smile. It felt good to hear that. Gi headed back to her own room and left Linka to finish her unpacking.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka was laying on her stomach on her bed with her head resting on her arms in thought when she heard a knocking by the window. She lifted her head up and looked to see Wheeler standing just outside her open window. The window didn't have any glass, just a pair of shutters to close the opening with, however they were currently wide open so Wheeler knocked on the side of the hut to get her attention.

Once he had it he said, "Hey I just wanted to let ya know that we're all gettin' a snack over in the main hut if you wanna join us since we pretty much missed dinner."

She looked at the alarm clock by her bed and saw that it was 9:30. She had lost track of time spacing out. She sat up from her bed and said, "Oh, okay. Thank you."

He smiled, "Sure no problem. I'll wait for you out here and we can walk over together."

She got up and put her shoes on then met Wheeler out front. They started walking towards the big hut down the beach from their bedrooms together. Wheeler cleared his throat then asked, "It's Linka, isn't it?"

"Da," she answered plainly.

Wheeler scratched his head. She noticed the perplexed look on his face and added, "It means 'yes' in Russian. Nyet means 'no'."

"Oh," was his simple reply.

"And your name is Wheeler, correct?" His cute smile returned to his face at the fact that she knew his name.

"That's me," he said as he pointed at himself.

Linka couldn't stop a giggle from escaping her mouth. She put her hand up to hide it a little. That just made Wheeler's grin widen. She looked at him seriously. Over all he was a pretty cute guy, and though a little rough around the edges and she didn't much care for being called "babe", he seemed like a genuinely friendly person.

She couldn't keep herself from asking, "Are you excited to be doing this?"

"Doin' what?"

She gestured to their surroundings as she said, "You know, moving here and becoming some kind of savior for the earth."

The excitement in Wheeler's voice was very obvious as he answered her, "Heck yeah, how could you not be? This is definitely the most excitin' thing that's every happened to me, that's for sure."

Linka had to admire his enthusiasm at least.

Wheeler added, "I mean I was never much into takin' care of the planet before but I sure care now." He looked at her and asked, "What you're not?"

"It is not that I am not happy to help the planet, I am honored that Gaia chose me for the wind ring, it is just . . ." she trailed off trying to pick the perfect word to describe how she was feeling.

"Scary?" Wheeler interjected.

"Da, the whole situation really is intimidating to say the least."

Wheeler shrugged. "Yeah it is, but I mean it ain't like we're alone, we've all got each other. This is new to all of us so we'll just have to stick together and have each other's back."

Linka was really impressed by what Wheeler had to say about the matter. From the cocky attitude he displayed the day before when she first met him and earlier in the Geo-Cruiser he was the last person she thought would have comforted her at that moment, and with such sincerity too. Maybe she had judged him too harshly too soon. Before she could say anything in return, however, Wheeler decided to make a move and snaked his arm around her waist pulling her a little closer. She gasped a bit in surprise, which quickly started to turn into irritation.

"You and me can definitely stick together that's for sure," he said flirtatiously.

There was the guy she met yesterday, unfortunately.

"Bozhe moy! What is it with you?!" She pushed him off her and stormed into the crystal chamber Wheeler hurrying after her calling for her to wait up. He didn't understand why she was so darn shy, most girls he knew back in NYC loved getting that kind of attention from guys. It was supposed to be flattering.

_Maybe she's just uptight because of the last few days . . ._

Obviously not deterred by Linka's out burst Wheeler headed into the kitchen to join the others.

**xXxXxXx**

The sun was bright over Hope Island, not a cloud was in the sky. Linka was jogging around the island not only checking it out but getting some exercise. She liked to keep in shape anyway, but now that she was saddled with the job of keeping the planet clean she figured she really needed to be up to par. Once she got back to the huts she stopped near the edge of the beach where the sea started. She'd never been on a beach, well not like this. The Soviet Union had a lot of bays and ports but no tropical beaches of course. This was definitely new for her.

Wheeler yawned and ruffled his unruly red hair as he walked out of his hut. He looked up at the sky and smiled at the abundance of sun shining down on him. He loved this kind of weather but rarely got to go to the beach back home because his family didn't have the money to take vacations, even short ones to somewhere as simple as a beach. Something caught the corner of his eye down by the water. He turned to look and realized it was Linka slowing down from a jog.

She put her hand to her forehead and wiped it as she looked at the clear blue water. Wheeler walked down towards the beach to join her.

"Awesome, isn't it?"

Linka turned to see the red head walking towards her. "Da, it is."

He put his hands in his pockets as he gazed at the crystalline waters swaying back and forth.

"I love beaches but I never got to go to them often growin' up," he said quietly.

Linka tightened her ponytail as she replied, "I have never had the chance to see a beach like this before."

Wheeler looked at her kind of surprised. "Are you serious?"

She nodded her head.

"Man that sucks."

Linka looked at him. "Well I live in the Soviet Union. It is cold more than it is warm, although we do have some really warm weather sometimes. However it is so sporadic. One day it can be in the 70s, the next the 30s."

Wheeler looked surprised. "No way!"

"Yes way. Summer there is so short that we have a joke. One person asked another 'have you had a summer in St. Petersburg this year?' and the other replied, 'yes but I was working that day.' You get it? Because summer is so short and the weather can change so quickly he is saying that the one summer day they had he was at work!" Linka started laughing which was infectious and spread to Wheeler.

"That's pretty funny, babe," Wheeler stated, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Da, I thought so when my brother first told me it," she replied as their laughter subsided.

"Wheeler, Linka!"

The two looked back towards the huts to see Kwame waving to them. They waved back as he ran over to them.

"Good morning you two. I thought we could all have breakfast and then start training with our powers today."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Wheeler stated.

"Da, we really need some practice in controlling them. The other day, when I had to use my wind power to keep the Geo-Cruiser from crashing into the water I had to focus really hard and it felt like it was draining my strength."

"Exactly why we need to learn how to use them correctly," Kwame stated.

The three walked towards the main hut as they discussed drills they could do to practice with their powers. Gi and Ma-Ti met up with them in the kitchen. Once they were all done eating they started to walk back down the beach but they didn't get far before Gaia appeared before them.

"Planeteer alert! Please get back to the crystal chamber quickly!" she urged.

Wheeler punched his right hand into his left clearly excited. "Alright, time to fry some bad guys!"

They ran back to the main hut. Gaia was waiting next to the planet viewer.

"What is it, Gaia?" Ma-Ti asked.

She waved her hand and images started to play out like a video before the planeteers on the crystal planet viewer. A fat man with a brownish colored janitor suit was shown dumping toxic barrels into a lake in a remote forest.

"This is Sly Sludge. Factories hire him to properly dispose of the toxic waste they create. However, it is cheaper for him to get rid of it by dumping it in lakes and rivers rather than in safe, government designated areas."

"But that is illegal!" Kwame cried.

"Yes it is and it is devastating to the wildlife that resides there too," Gaia said.

Gi stared at the screen wide eyed as she saw dead fish and birds floating on the surface of the water, clearly poisoned by what Sludge was dumping into the lake.

"He's killing everything that lives in the water! We have to stop him!"

She started running for the Geo-Cruiser, the others not far behind. They all piled in as Gi programmed their destination into the computer. Linka hurriedly buckled her seat belt as she sighed. "So much for training . . ."

**xXxXxXx**

The planeteers scrambled out of the Geo-Cruiser as soon as it touched down near the lake. Off in the distance they could see Sly Sludge and another person near a truck rolling barrels of toxic waste into the lake. They ran towards them shouting at them to stop.

"You must stop dumping that into this lake you are killing everything!" Ma-Ti yelled as they ran towards Sludge and his henchman. The two polluters looked towards the sources of the yelling.

"Who the hell are you kids?!" Sly yelled back.

"We're the planeteers you pompous polluter!" Wheeler said as they neared the two eco-terrorists.

Gi stepped forward and pointed at the dead animals floating on the lake. "Look at what those toxins are doing to the animals! You have to stop before you ruin the lake completely!"

"Beat it you punks I got a job to do and you're gettin' on my nerves." Sly turned to his assistant who had stopped pushing barrels into the lake and yelled, "Get back to work Ooze, we got a job to finish!"

He pushed another barrel into the lake. Linka aimed her ring at him and shouted, "Wind!"

As she cried out the name of her element a gust of wind shot out of her ring and knocked Sludge and Ooze off their feet. The two stared up at her flabbergasted to say the least.

She continued to point her ring at them as she said, "We mean it! If you do not stop on your own then we will make you stop!"

"Alright! Way to go, Linka!" Wheeler said some what admiringly.

Sludge and Ooze backed away on the ground before they got up. "How did you do that?!" Sludge demanded.

"That is not your concern, just beware that there is more where that came from if you do not listen!" Kwame yelled.

"Why you little-" Sly stepped towards them and Wheeler released a shot of fire at their feet which caused them to back up again.

"Don't even think about it buddy or you're toast!" he said as he continued to point his ring in their direction.

Sludge stared at the five teens evenly, then suddenly kicked one of the barrels he was behind at the planeteers before he took off running, Ooze following suit. The toxic gunk flew at them.

"Heads up!" Wheeler warned.

He grabbed Linka's arm and pulled her with him to one side, while the others jumped out of the way in the opposite direction. Kwame landed on the edge of the bank. He would have been fine, but the earth there had eroded from the chemicals being spilled all over that area thanks to Sludge and it crumbled away. He started to fall towards the toxic water. Gi was quick to help him.

"Water!" she shouted as she pointed her ring at the lake.

It spilt apart so that he would fall on the dirt bottom rather than in the polluted water. Unfortunately he was going to fall on barrels Sludge had already dumped in that spot instead. Linka quickly released a gust of wind from her ring that blew him far enough to just miss the toxic barrels. Kwame landed somewhat haphazardly on the bottom of the lake, but safe none-the-less.

Kwame pointed his ring at the dirt and yelled, "Earth!"

Quickly a mound of earth rose up to carry him back up. He jumped off of it once it reached the bank, then it proceeded to sink back into the lake's bottom as the water crashed back over the area Gi had pushed it away from.

"Thank you my friends for saving me," he said in relief.

"That was some real team work huh guys?" Ma-Ti asked.

Wheeler replied, "Yeah but that jerk and his lackey got away."

"We've got more important things to worry about right now though, like fixing the lake," Gi stated as she stared at the polluted water.

Linka added, "Plus we have to get rid of these barrels that Sly Sludge left behind."

"Then I think we will need to call Captain Planet to help with that," came Kwame's solution.

The team summoned Captain Planet and he cleaned out the lake and disposed of the barrels left by Sludge properly. Once it was all taken care of, the planeteers climbed back into the Geo-Cruiser and headed back for Hope Island.

**xXxXxXx**

The planeteers were all gathered around the kitchen table eating lunch after their recent mission. They were all talking and just getting to know each other better.

"Gi, how old are you?" Linka asked the young Asian.

"I'm 18."

"Me too!" Linka stated.

"I am also 18, well, 18 and a half actually." Kwame added.

"And I'm 18 too, almost 19. So we're all the same age, accept Ma-Ti then," Wheeler said, his feet resting up on the table.

"I'm afraid I am only 14 . . ." came Ma-Ti's small voice.

Linka put her hand on Ma-Ti's shoulder sensing he felt out of place since he was a few years younger. "There is nothing wrong with that, Ma-Ti. Do not be in such a hurry to grow up so soon. For what it is worth you are very mature for your age."

Linka glanced at Wheeler. "For one thing you are definitely more mature than Wheeler."

"Hey!" Wheeler tried to get up quickly to get back at Linka for her comment but since his feet were on the table all he did was knock his chair off balance and fall flat on his back. "Owww!"

Everyone laughed as Linka said, "See? I rest my case."

"You said it, Linka," Gi added.

Wheeler gave them all a dirty look as he rubbed the back of his neck. Linka flicked her ponytail back as she headed for the door.

"Well, I need to take a shower since I never got to after my jog." She walked out to go clean herself up.

**xXxXxXx**

Wheeler was watching some tv in the den. It was getting kind of late, so he was about to shut the tv off and head to bed when he heard some one come in to the sitting room, adjacent to the room he was in. A few seconds later he heard Linka's voice. She was obviously on the one phone they had on the island.

"Hello? Ivan? It is not too early in the morning for you there is it? Oh good, I was afraid I might wake you but this is the only time I had a chance to call you during a decent hour back home. Da I miss you too. Nyet, I do not know when I will be able to see you again at the moment, I am sorry. Da, I am being careful. Yes I am. I wish we did not have to be so far apart, it hurts to be so far away from you . . ."

Linka's voice trailed off as Wheeler walked out of the den his hands in his pockets, head hung. He'd heard more than enough of Linka's end of the conversation to know who was on the other end.

_So Linka's already got a boyfriend . . .I'm such an idiot._

He walked down the hall back to his room feeling rather lonely.

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N:** Hope you liked chapter two. That joke Linka told about St. Petersburg is an actual joke in Russia. I've done some small research on Russia and the Soviet Union so that when I talk about Linka and her background it's decently accurate. Especially since I was always kind of surprised they didn't do anything in the show about the fall of the Soviet Union even though one of the characters was from there and that was a huge deal, very historical moment in time. And it finally fell completely in 1991 sometime during the second season and according to Wikipedia, one of the many things the Soviets were being lied to about by their government was pollution in their countries. To what extent I don't know but it was an issue all the same. Anyway, I think that would have had an impact on Linka too so I will probably dabble on that sometime in this story as well. Well that's all for now, see-ya :)

_**SakuraJade**_


	3. A Change for the Best

**A/N:** Here's chapter 3. I wrote it a couple of weeks ago but I just wasn't sure if it was exactly how I wanted it so I kept fiddling with it but I think it's good enough now. Sorry for the late release. But I'm sure some of the events of this chapter will please most of you, at least Wheeler/Linka fans lol Also thank for the reviews I've gotten so far, 7 for 2 chaps of a CP fic? Not bad if I say so myself lol Even better they all seemed to be positive which makes writing this story all that more worth it :) Although I have about 250 hits at this point so when you look at it that way 7 reviews isn't that much. So come on peps, if you read it give it a quick review please, I appreciate it! Now without further interruptions . . .

Disclaimer: "I don't own Captain Planet or the Planeteers."

_Italics_ means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 3:_ _A Change for the Best_

"Okay everybody I think that's good for today," Kwame announced to the group.

They had been training for two hours and were ready to call it quits for the day. Everyone started heading back to their rooms except Linka. She continued to practice with her wind power. She had a strange notion that she might actually be able to fly to an extent if she could just concentrate hard enough. However try as she might, so far, she had only been able to hover a few feet off the ground for a couple of seconds before falling back down. Wheeler noticed that she hadn't started walking like the rest of them, so he went back to get her.

"Yo, Linka, didn't ya hear Kwame? Practice is over for today."

Linka looked over at him as he stopped next to her.

"Da, Wheeler, I heard him I just wanted to try a few more times to see if I could get higher."

"You really think you could fly with your power?" he asked raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Linka shrugged. "Maybe. But I will never know if I do not try."

They started walking back towards their huts. Wheeler looked preoccupied, like he wanted to say something so Linka called him out.

"What is it, Wheeler? You look like you have something on your brain."

He chucked at her mistake. "That's mind, Linka."

"Well fine then. You look like you have something on your mind."

Wheeler did. He was thinking about Linka's phone conversation that he over heard a few days back. He wanted to apologize for hitting on her and flirting with her when she already had a boyfriend, he felt like an idiot.

"Well, okay don't flip out or nothin', but the other day I over heard part of your phone call by accident. I didn't know until that phone call that you have a boyfriend and I wanted to apologize for flirtin' with ya and hittin' on ya and stuff. I had no idea and I didn't mean to disrespect you or your boyfriend. It just ain't cool to try and snake another dude's girl behind his back," he finished still staring at the ground.

Linka was gapping at Wheeler. She had never expected something like this from him. He really was a decent guy after all if he felt bad about flirting with a taken girl. She smiled at him.

"Do not worry about it, it is okay. But I appreciate your apology that is sweet of you, Yankee."

Wheeler returned her smile. "So does that mean we're cool then?"

"Da, we are cool."

Wheeler was still disappointed that Linka was already dating someone else, but he still liked her as a person and was glad that they were fine. He was still attracted to her, but Wheeler put his feelings aside in respect for her current relationship. Before the two could make it to their huts Gaia's voice rang out over the island.

"Planeteer alert! Report to the crystal chamber!"

Wheeler ran a hand through his thick red hair as he sighed, "Duty calls."

He and Linka met up with the others in front of the planet viewer. Gaia waved her hand in front of it and it revealed a thin woman with blonde hair and a pink jumpsuit.

"This is Dr. Blight. She is a scientist whose experiments aren't usually environmentally sound. She doesn't care who or what she hurts with her experiments. Currently she has developed a new growth hormone she is marketing to farmers for their crops."

"What's the problem with that?" Wheeler questioned not understanding why that would result in an eco-emergency.

"The problem is that this growth hormone may increase the size of fruits and vegetables, but ingesting it is hazardous," Gaia replied.

Linka folded her arms over her chest as she asked, "Why did the FDA approve Dr. Blight's chemical for use on food products though if it is dangerous for human consumption? Plus it can take several years to actually get something approved, so how was she able to get it on the market so quickly?"

Gi seconded Linka's thought. "She's right, that doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it doesn't," Gaia stated, "that's because they didn't approve it."

"Then how is she being allowed to market her new growth hormone?" Kwame asked.

Gaia waved her hand over the screen again and it showed a computer generated image of a green face on a black screen.

"This is MAL, Dr. Blight's trusty computer that she corrupted and misuses. That is how she is getting away with it. MAL was able to infiltrate the FDA's computers and with a little reprogramming and file doctoring-"

"He was able to create fake documents that look real!" Linka finished for Gaia.

"Exactly. Meanwhile people are getting sick and no one realizes the cause is because of Dr. Blight's growth hormone in their very own crops."

"We must stop her," Ma-Ti said as he stepped forward.

"We will. Everyone to the Geo-Cruiser," Kwame instructed.

They all headed out and piled into the Geo-Cruiser then set course for Dr. Blight's factory. Gi was flying while Kwame decided on a course of action.

"I believe we will have to split up for this. Some of us should go to the town and get them to stop using Dr. Blight's chemical substance on their fields, the others should go stop her computer and get him out of the FDA's system."

"I will go take care of MAL," Linka volunteered.

Wheeler looked at her before adding, "And I'll go with her."

"Alright then Ma-Ti and Gi will come with me to the town. We will try to convince them to stop using her hormone then we will join you at her factory to shut her down."

**xXxXxXx**

Linka and Wheeler were sneaking around outside Dr. Blight's factory looking for a way in. They found a secluded door off to the side.

Linka tried the handle. "Bozhe moy, it is locked."

Wheeler gently nudged her aside. "Let me have a shot at it, babe." He pointed his ring at the doorknob. "Fire!"

The doorknob melted away and Wheeler kicked it in. Then he motioned for Linka to join him. They followed a long corridor until it opened up into a large room with an enormous computer console. Linka pointed at it.

"That must be Dr. Blight's computer."

As they approached it, the screen turned on to reveal the same green face and pitch black background they saw back on the planet viewer. A computerized, male voice came from the console.

"Halt, state your name and purpose."

Wheeler crossed his arms over his chest and spoke, "Yo we're the planeteers. We know you're creatin' fake documents to market your junk and we're here to pull the plug."

MAL smiled viciously. "Is that so? Well then I'll just have to take care of you then won't I?"

Wheeler cracked a cocky smile. "Ha, what can you do to us?"

"Oh you'd be surprised."

Pink laser type beams started shooting out of the computer at Wheeler and Linka. They jumped apart to avoid being vaporized. Linka shouted over to him.

"Nice going, Yankee!"

Wheeler shouted back as he dogged another shot. "Hey how was I supposed to know he could do this?"

Linka did a back hand spring, a pink beam missing her by inches. "Just keep him busy for a few minutes!"

She managed to get behind the massive computer and started to play with the wires. Eventually she found the right ones that disabled MAL but left the PC system operational. She walked back around and joined Wheeler.

"Alright now that the psychotic computer is off, let's get the heck outta here," he said heading for the door.

"No, Wheeler, wait."

She walked over to the computer board, popped a floppy disk in the drive, and started playing around with the keys. Wheeler ran over to her.

"What are you doing? We have to get outta here."

"I know but if we do not figure out how Dr. Blight and MAL did this, then the people at the FDA will not be able to stop them from doing this again. I am copying MAL's program to a disk. If we know how they are doing this then the FDA can block them in the future," she finished as if it should have been obvious.

Wheeler's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. He jabbed a finger at Linka's backside as he said, "Wait a second, you aren't just into computers you're a hacker!"

Linka continued to push buttons. "I guess you could call me that. There done."

She ejected the floppy disk from the computer drive and pocketed it. "Now we can leave."

"I don't think so."

Linka and Wheeler whirled around to see Dr. Blight standing in the door way.

She put her hands on her hips. "What do you two think you're doing?"

Wheeler spat out, "We're shuttin' you down!"

Dr. Blight raised an eye brow. "Oh you must be those annoying planeteers."

Linka blinked, "How do you know who we are?"

Dr. Blight shrugged, "Through the grape vine of course, Blondie. Words gotten around that a bunch of wannabe teen super heroes are trying to make it harder on us so called eco-villains."

Dr. Blight suddenly noticed MAL's screen was blank. Her eyes went wide as she ran towards him. She frantically pressed keys on the control panel as she yelled for him.

"MAL? MAL-baby, speak to me!"

She rounded on the planeteers, fire burning in her eyes. "What did you pesky planeteers do to my dear, sweet MAL?"

"Sorry to disappoint you but I took him off-line. He will not be making you fake FDA documents anymore," Linka said defiantly.

Dr. Blight was shaking with rage. "You! How dare you touch MAL? Nobody plays with his programs but me!"

"Well we'd love to stay and chat but we gotta run," Wheeler said as he grabbed Linka's arm and started running for the door. Dr. Blight followed suit.

"Get back here! I'll cut your pretty little fingers off for putting them on MAL, Blondie!"

Wheeler looked at Linka as they darted out of the room.

"Damn, Linka, she's really pissed off at you."

"So I noticed," Linka said, glancing back to see how close Dr. Blight was.

Wheeler saw a staircase up ahead.

"Come on, this way!" he pointed.

The two ran up the flight of stairs and out onto a catwalk. The minute they started running across the metal walkway, Linka smelled something. The air in the room was slightly foggy. Linka sniffed, her nose crinkling up in response to the foul odor.

"What is that strange smell?" she wondered out loud.

"I don't know, babe, but we don't have time to worry about that, that crazy scientist chick isn't far behind us."

Linka looked down over the rail of the catwalk and saw a few dozen vats below them filled with a green substance.

"Bohze moy! It is gas!" she exclaimed.

Wheeler glanced back at her, still running. "Huh?"

Linka pointed downwards. "There are tons of vats down there of a green liquid! It must be Dr. Blight's growth hormone and it is giving off some kind of gas!"

"So?" Wheeler asked showing little concern for that at the moment.

"So, if that stuff is harmful when it is consumed then there is a good chance breathing the fumes in will be harmful as well! We have to get out of here as soon as possible!"

"Well I wasn't plannin' on stickin' around!"

They were almost at the end of the catwalk where there was another staircase they could take back down to the ground floor. Wheeler looked back past Linka and saw that Dr. Blight was still hot on their trail. He pointed his ring back making sure the beautiful blonde wasn't lined up with it.

"I'll put some fire behind us to slow her down."

Linka realized he was going to use his ring. "Wait, Wheeler, no, the gas!"

Her cry came too late.

**xXxXxXx**

In the town not far from Dr. Blight's factory, Kwame, Gi, and Ma-Ti were trying to convince the farmers to stop using the growth hormone on their crops.

"You do not understand! That growth hormone is no good!" Kwame stated.

"How can you say that? Look at the size of our vegetables and our fruits too! They're enormous and they look great," came the words of an angry farmer from within the crowd.

"Looks can be deceiving. The food from your crops might look great but in reality it's not. It's what's making your townspeople sick!" Gi shot back.

"Please you must listen to us, the people will continue to get worse and soon you will have no uncontaminated food to eat because you did not stop using Dr. Blight's chemical," Ma-Ti pleaded with the farmers.

They all started to talk amongst themselves agreeing that the people in the town only started getting sick after they started using Dr. Blight's formula on their crops. One stepped towards the three planeteers.

"You are sure it's Dr. Blight's product?"

Kwame nodded his head. "Yes, absolutely."

The farmer sighed. "Then we will stop immediately. We should have known it was too good to be true."

The three planeteers smiled at each other glad they were able to convince the farmers to stop using the growth hormone.

"It is not too late, you can still save your other crops from being contaminated at least," said Gi.

"Dispose of whatever you have left of that chemical and the contaminated crops safely and you will be okay," added Kwame.

"We will. We'll also go tell the other farmers about this so we can correct it immediately."

"Then we will go join up with the others," Kwame said as he, Gi, and Ma-Ti started heading back towards the Geo-Cruiser.

**xXxXxXx**

Wheeler shot a line of fire at the metal floor of the high rise but shortly after it left his ring there was a small explosion in the air due to the surrounding gas. The explosion shook the whole catwalk and knocked Linka forward into Wheeler which sent him just far enough so that he was no longer on the bridge. Linka hit the floor of the catwalk not far from the end. Dr. Blight was already running back to the other side because she saw that the explosion had severed the catwalk in half. Linka put a hand to her head and pulled herself up. However as soon as she got to her feet, the metal bridge shook violently and started to collapse. She gasped in surprise as she started to fall backwards with it.

"Linka!" Wheeler called out.

He quickly lashed out his hand and grabbed her arm as she fell past the side. The catwalk fell away and swung down against the edge of the deck. Linka collided with the jagged remains of the catwalk, dangling from Wheeler's arm.

"Wheeler, help me!" she cried.

"I will, just hang on!" he yelled through gritted teeth.

"I cannot! I am slipping!"

Dr. Blight let out a delighted laugh. "Well it looks like pyro there decided to take you out for me, Blondie," she said before running back down the staircase she had chased them up a few minutes earlier.

Wheeler stretched his other arm over the side and Linka quickly reached up with her free hand and grabbed on to it. He got a good footing then slowly started to pull her up onto the platform. Eventually she was back up on the deck next to him. The two teens were breathing heavily, shaken a bit by what just happened. Wheeler got to his feet and held out his hand to help Linka up. She took it while slightly holding her right side with her left hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Da, I think so."

"Linka, I . . . I was so stupid. I didn't even think about how usin' my ring would be dangerous with that gas. You almost got hurt because I didn't think, I'm really sorry," he said, guilt evident in his voice.

"Do not worry about it, Wheeler, it was an accident. We are okay and that is all that matters. Plus it chased Dr. Blight off at least." She looked him in the eyes with a semi-stern look and added, "Just try to be more careful in the future."

"You got it. We better get outta here before the mad scientist finds us."

Link nodded her head in agreement. "Da, let us go."

Wheeler started heading for the stairs. Once his back was turned and he was a few feet away Linka moved her left hand from her right side and lifted her jacket up. There was a bit of blood on her yellow planeteer shirt. A small piece of metal from the catwalk was sticking out of her punctured flesh. It stung like hell but she needed to be rid of it so she quickly yanked it out while biting back a yelp. Thankfully the gash didn't look too serious. She tossed the bloody piece of shrapnel onto the floor and pulled her jacket back down over the wound to hide it from view before she went to catch up with Wheeler.

_Gaia was not kidding when she said this job would be dangerous . . ._

Shortly after Wheeler and Linka made it back outside of the factory the others arrived. They ran over to the Geo-Cruiser to meet up with them.

"Yo, Kwame, what's the news?"

"The farmers agreed to stop using Dr. Blight's hormone and to get rid of the crops that have already been sprayed with it," Kwame said in response to Wheeler.

Gi chimed in. "What about you guys?"

Wheeler jerked his head at Linka as he said, "She got into the computer and made a disk of how Blight and MAL were gettin' into the FDA's system so we can keep them from doin' it again."

Kwame smiled at the computer savvy blonde, "Nice work, Linka."

She waved his praise off. "It was nothing. Unfortunately Dr. Blight still has several vats of that chemical in her factory."

"Then we will call Captain Planet to take care of that," Ma-Ti said.

"Right, let our powers combine! Earth!" Kwame raised his ring to the sky as a green light erupted from it.

"Fire!" Wheeler punched his fist towards the sky.

Linka put her left hand over the cut on her ride side and only raised her ring up part way because it hurt too much to raise it any higher. Nobody seemed to notice. "Wind!"

"Water!"

"Heart!"

The five beams of light collided in the sky and Captain Planet materialized.

"When your powers combine, I am Capitan Planet!"

"Go Planet!" All five of the planeteers cried out.

"Don't worry planeteers I'll put Dr. Blight out of business for good!"

Captain Planet headed into the factory. Inside Dr. Blight had gotten MAL back up and running. She was frantically packing everything up.

"Those planet-punks killed our business here but no matter, we'll just start again in a town that hasn't heard of the problems our growth hormone has," she said to MAL as she continued to pack up.

"But doctor, that blonde brat scanned my files and knows how we are getting into the FDA's computer files to make our fake documents. We won't be able to do that anymore once they take that to the FDA and set up specific firewalls," MAL whined.

"MAL-baby, you're forgetting, we may not be able to steal files from the FDA anymore, but we still have our original copies that say our product is perfectly safe for human consumption," she finished as she smiled maliciously and held the folder up with all their fake documents.

"Not for long you won't!"

Dr. Blight looked up to see Captain Planet flying at her. She started to run from him but he swooped down and grabbed her.

"What the hell are you? Put me down!" she demanded.

"No can do doc, not until I get those documents from you."

Captain Planet took the folder from her hand and dropped her on her butt. He turned his hand on fire and burned the folder until there was nothing left but a pile of ashes. Dr. Blight screamed in anger as she watched Captain Planet destroy her files.

"It looks like your business just went up in smoke. And now to take care of the factory," he said with a toothy smile.

Captain Planet flew off to dispose of the vats full of the growth hormone. While he was busy incinerating the barrels, Dr. Blight and a portable version of MAL split while they had the chance. Once he was done he returned to the planeteers.

"Well that takes care of Dr. Blight's business and now it's time for me to go. Remember planeteers, the power is yours!" Captain Planet dematerialized and the planeteers held up their rings as their powers returned.

"Well, now that that is taken care of, we should take the disk that Linka made to the nearest FDA office so they can protect against something like this in the future," Gi said.

Kwame nodded his head. "Gi, is right, let's go planeteers."

**xXxXxXx**

The Geo-Cruiser touched down on the sands of Hope Island. Everyone piled out of the yellow aircraft. The sun was shinning and it was hot. Wheeler put his hand up to block the sun.

"Man it's hot; I could go for a swim."

Just as he said that his stomach growled. "After I grab a bite to eat of course."

Everyone started laughing.

"Sound's like a plan to me, I'm starving!" Gi said.

They all started heading towards the kitchen except Linka. Ma-Ti noticed and approached her. "Linka, aren't you going to come and get some food too?"

She shook her head. "Nyet, I am not that hungry. I really want to lie down for a bit actually."

"Oh, okay."

"I will see you later, Ma-Ti."

Linka walked back towards her hut while Ma-Ti went in the opposite direction to join the others in the kitchen. As soon as Linka got back to her room, she immediately gave her wound some much needed attention. Once she cleaned the blood away the gash in her side didn't look too threatening but it still needed to be cleaned and bandaged to avoid infection. After that was taken care of she collapsed on her bed to relax for a bit. Back in the kitchen, Ma-Ti had arrived and started making himself something to eat with the others. Gi noticed that Linka was not with him.

"Ma-Ti, where's Linka?" she asked.

"She said she was tired and went to lie down instead."

"Is she okay?" Kwame questioned.

"I don't know. She seemed a little worn out but okay otherwise."

Gi looked at Wheeler who hadn't said anything yet. "Did you guys run into trouble while you were getting into Blight's factory or something?"

Wheeler rubbed the back of his head and kept his eyes on the table, too embarrassed over his blunder to look at the others. "Uh, well . . ."

He recapped what happened when the two of them snuck into the factory finishing with the fact that, though he screwed up a little, both of them were okay in the end.

"Wow talk about a classic case of not thinking before you act," Gi said.

"Yeah yeah, I messed up, I got it," Wheeler said hastily.

He walked out of the kitchen to go check on Linka. When he got to her room he knocked. She sat up on her bed and said, "Come in."

Wheeler walked in and just stood there not really sure what to say.

"What is it, Wheeler?" she asked breaking the silence.

"Uh . . ."

He took a few steps further into her room then said, "Well you didn't come eat with the rest of us and Ma-Ti said you went to go lay down so . . . I just wanted to make sure you really are okay . . . So, are you?"

She smiled faintly. "Wheeler, I told you earlier I am fine."

"Alright, well, I'll see you for dinner then right?" he questioned.

"Da I will be there."

Wheeler turned to leave but something in the trash can near the door caught his eye. It was a couple of pieces of gauze covered with blood that looked rather fresh. He froze not sure what to think. Linka noticed his hesitation to leave but didn't understand why he stopped abruptly before leaving. She didn't realize she was busted.

Wheeler, his back to her, hand on the doorknob said quietly, "You're lying."

His statement was so quite and calm yet direct it made Linka's skin crawl a little.

"What are you talking about?" she asked feigning ignorance.

"You know what I'm talkin' about, Linka!" Wheeler said as he whirled around to face her again. He pointed at the bloody gauze in the garbage can and continued, "You told me you weren't hurt! You lied, you are hurt!"

"Wheeler-"

He cut her off. "And it's my fault . . ."

Her eyes softened at his guilt and self blame. She got off her bed and walked over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder once she reached him.

"Wheeler, please do not blame yourself. It is not your fault, it was an accident. Gaia told us this job would be dangerous and we all took the job knowing that," she said trying to comfort him.

Wheeler looked up, his eyes meeting hers. "But you got hurt because of my carelessness."

"It really is not a big deal," she assured him, "When I fell against the side of that catwalk while hanging from your arm a piece of the metal got me in the side but I pulled it out before we even left the factory and I already cleaned it up and bandaged it so it is taken care of. Please do not worry about it."

Wheeler sighed and looked down as he ran a hand through his unruly red hair. Linka couldn't help but think of how cute he looked when he did that. He looked back up at her and said, "If you say it wasn't serious then I'll take your word for it but don't hide somethin' like this from me again in the future, okay?"

"Okay, I will not," she replied.

Wheeler eyed her suspiciously. "You promise?" he pressed.

Linka giggled a little at the serious look on his face and said, "Da, I promise."

Wheeler held out his hand and Linka grasped it firmly to seal the deal. He marveled at the feel of the smooth, soft skin on her small hand as he enclosed his fingers around it and gave it a slight shake.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka was very excited. It had been a month since she moved to Hope Island and she was finally able to take the Geo-Cruiser home to visit her family and her boyfriend. Linka walked out of her room with her backpack slung over one shoulder. She'd be staying for two nights. It wasn't much time to spend with her family and with Ivan since she hadn't seen any of them in a month, but it was better than nothing. As she was walking out of the hut she ran into Wheeler who was on his way in.

"Where you goin'?" he asked staring at her backpack.

"Back home for a visit. It is just for the weekend though."

"Well, be careful, make sure you make it back here in one piece," he joked.

Linka shoved him gently as she walked off saying, "Da, I will I will."

She tossed her bag in the Geo-Cruiser and headed for home. Wheeler watched her go before continuing on towards his room.

**xXxXxXx**

Wheeler yawned on the sofa in the sitting room. He turned off the tv and stretched as he stood up. He was bored with the tv, there was nothing on, but despite the late hour he still wasn't tired enough to go to sleep. He stepped out onto the sand to take a late night walk. Shortly after he got outside something yellow caught his eye down by the beach. He looked and saw the Geo-Cruiser parked near the water. Linka was sitting on the wing solemnly staring out at the ocean. One of her legs was hanging off the side of the wing the other was pulled up to her chest, her chin resting on her knee.

_What's she doin' back here already? _

Wheeler walked over to the Geo-Cruiser and stood their silently staring at her, waiting for her to notice him. When she failed to sense his presence he spoke.

"Hey, Linka."

She glanced down at him, the expression on her face unreadable. She looked back out to the horizon. "Hello, Wheeler," she returned his greeting, her voice devoid of emotion.

He pulled himself up on the wing and sat down next to her, his legs dangling off the side, hands propping him up from behind.

"So, what're you doin' back so soon? I thought you were stayin' back home for the whole weekend?" he asked.

She sighed sadly. "Things did not go as I had hoped."

"Oh."

Wheeler wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't want to pry and make things worse, but he didn't want her to think he didn't care either. He decided to see what was wrong.

"What happened?" he probed for more detail.

She did not answer right away. Finally she said very simply, "It is over."

"What is?"

"Ivan and me. The distance was just too much. He could not handle hardly seeing me and not knowing when we would be able to meet again, so he broke up with me when I got home," she answered still not looking at him.

Wheeler wasn't sure how to respond to that. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Man that bites. Sorry, Linka."

She shook her head. "Nyet, it is okay. It hurts, but at the same time I kind of already knew it was not going to last, not after I became a planeteer. It was only a matter of time before our relationship ended."

Linka moved a strand of stray hair back behind her ear as she continued.

"When I got home I saw my Nonna and my brother for a little bit, then Ivan came over. We went for a walk and everything was really normal, like I had never left. But then he put his arm around my waist and hit the cut I got at Dr. Blight's factory. He noticed I flinched and would not let it go until I explained to him what happened. Suddenly he said he just could not do it, he could not be with a girl he hardly sees and he could not stand the worrying, not knowing if I was in danger or not. He said it was too stressful to know one day he might get a call from my brother that something happened on one of our missions and that I did not make it."

Linka sighed and stared down at her Claddagh ring. The heart was facing out showing that hers wasn't taken anymore. "He gave me a hug, told me to make the most of myself, then he said goodbye and he left me standing there, still trying to comprehend that we were through . . ."

Wheeler waited for her to go on but when she said nothing he spoke up. "I'm really sorry."

She looked at him for the first time since he pulled himself onto the wing of the Geo-Cruiser and asked, "For what?"

Wheeler looked down, a guilty expression hung on his face as he answered, "If I hadn't caused that explosion, your boyfriend wouldn't have-"

Linka interrupted him. "No, Wheeler, do not send yourself on a guilt trip. Please, it is not worth it . . . It was only a matter of time, you had nothing to do with it."

The pair fell into silence, nothing but the sound of the ocean waves crashing a few feet away. They sat there like that for several minutes lost in their own thoughts before Wheeler finally asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

""Da, I will be anyway. I really did care about Ivan. We were pretty serious. We dated for over two years." She took the ring he gave her off her finger and held it in her hand.

"He could not afford an engagement ring so he gave me this Irish Claddagh ring sort of as a promise ring. You wear it with the crown facing out when you are taken and with the heart facing out when you are single. It has no monetary value, but it meant so much to me. I did not care that he did not have much money, I loved him regardless. Now this ring is as worthless to me as it is to a jeweler. I just wish it had not happened so suddenly. That is what hurts the most I think, that I was not expecting it . . ." she finished, her voice cracking slightly, tears threatening to fall. She blinked them back refusing to release anymore.

Wheeler knew exactly how she felt. "Well now that I can relate to."

Linka looked over at him. "What do you mean?"

"A few weeks before we became planeteers I was datin' a girl named Trish. We hadn't been datin' as long as you and Ivan, but it was still a pretty long time, especially for me. It was my longest relationship, hers too. We dated for a year and a half," he stated.

"What happened?"

Wheeler put his hands behind his head and laid back on the wing, his blue eyes focused on the stars above.

"You know I really don't know. The spark we had in the beginnin' had died down a bit but we weren't havin' any real problems. But one day she just told me that she needed more than I could give her and that was that, we were done. And I can honestly say the shock of the suddenness hurt more than actually losin' Trish. You'll get over it though, I did."

Linka jumped down from the wing of the Geo-Cruiser. Wheeler sat up when he heard her feet touch the sand. He stared at her backside as she opened her hand and looked at the ring Ivan had given her one more time before she threw it as hard as she could. They watched it sail through the air, the moonlight reflecting off it as it went, and hit the water a little ways away, sinking into the crashing waves of the ocean. She turned back to the fiery American as he jumped off the wing and landed next to her on the ground. She gave him a weak smile.

"Thank you for listening to me and for your comfort, Wheeler. I appreciate it."

"No problem, Linka, glad I could be there for ya," he said returning her smile.

Linka looked up at the stars over head. "I suppose Ivan and me were not meant to be. After all, everything happens for a reason. I guess that means there is someone better out there for me. It is a change for the best."

"Now that's the way to think, babe," Wheeler gave her a sly smile, "And who knows, maybe that someone is closer than ya think." He winked at her to emphasize that he was talking about himself. Linka stared at him for a few seconds then started laughing despite herself. Wheeler joined in shortly.

"Oh, Wheeler, you are something else. I needed a laugh though and I have to admit you have a knack for making people smile."

She started walking back towards her room, still giggling a little with Wheeler close behind.

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N:** Well that's a wrap for chapter 3. It ended up being a bit longer than I planned originally, definitely longer than the other two chapters but I figure no one will have a problem with that, especially since it was a little late. I'm trying to keep the characters somewhat close to their original personalities just more serious and realistic emotional-wise so it was hard to write for Cap b/c he always says the corniest one liners and puns and that's not really my regular style so I hope he was written to everyone's liking. Hope you're all enjoying this story so far, see ya in chapter 4, which I promise won't take as long to post b/c it's already almost completed :)

_**SakuraJade**_


	4. A Blissful Reunion

**A/N:** So I can't believe I have over 100 hits for chapter 3 alone but only one person reviewed and it was my b/f trying to take an interesting in my hobby (he's a sweetie). That kind of sucks to have so many hits and no one say what they thought. At least review if you want to see more of this story b/c though I'll definitely finish regardless, more reviews really do help push an author to update faster and it's great to know if people are enjoying your work or not.

Anyway here's chapter 4. It's actually been in the works for a while, but I had to do a little bit of research on US politics for a small part of this chapter and I mean a minuscule part, but I wanted it to be as accurate and close to reality as possible. So I had to read up on it a bit. Then the day I wanted to post it I lost internet at my house and it was out for at least a week :( But it's back on now so I can finally update. This is going to be a fairly serious chapter just so you know. Also the university and the fraternity in this chapter are made up, don't worry, it will make sense once you get into it. The issue in this chapter is based loosely on a real ep but pretty much redone. That's all you need to know I think, so onto the story.

Disclaimer: "I don't own Captain Planet or the Planeteers."

_Italics_ means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 4: A Bliss-__filled__ reunion_

On a dimly lit street corner in Washington D.C. a man in a trench coat with a red scarf around his head and face handed a small brown bag to a young man. The teenager looked around cautiously to make sure no one was in sight before he took it. He opened the bag to see several small pills that were half yellow and half green. They gave off a faint glow making them appear almost magical. The boy looked up at the owner of the bag.

"You're sure these will make me feel better?" the boy asked.

The man in the trench coat hissed out a chuckle. "I guarantee it. Just one will make all your problems seem so small and unimportant. No matter what's happening in your life, all you'll feel is pure bliss."

The young man closed the bag and pocketed it, obviously convinced, then handed the mysterious man some money in return. He took the money and sneered.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

**xXxXxXx**

The planeteers were exiting the capitol building in Washington D.C. The House of Representatives was currently discussing the possibility of a new bill that would deal with oil spill clean up. The bill was the Oil Pollution Act and it was a result of the Exxon Valdaz spill that occurred on March 24th the year before (1989). Eleven million gallons of Alaskan crude oil spilled into the Waters of Prince Sound and it proved that the US was vastly unprepared to handle such a disaster. In hopes to avoid this kind of problem again in the future, the House of Representatives was in the process of developing a bill that would create an eleven billion dollar supplement compensation fund for oil spills in case the party at fault could not or would not clean it up themselves. Though this bill was obviously only going to benefit the US since it was not international, an oil spill was an environmental disaster all the same no matter where it happened and if this bill was passed it could at least help save the planeteers a lot of time and trouble with future oil spills that might occur in US waters. So they decided to fly to D.C. and attend the discussion in order to learn more about it first hand. It had gone rather well. Most of the politicians seemed in favor of the new bill much to the delight of the eco-teens.

Linka was intrigued by the whole ordeal. Being born in a communist country whose government declared communism the only way, it was most interesting for her to see democracy in action. Especially since the communist party in her country seemed to denounce this particular type of political structure the most. She was impressed for the most part. Though it had its flaws like every other system, over all it seemed pretty stable and "fair" for lack of a better word. With all it's systems of checks and balances it made it so that no one party had the ultimate say. Though she found the whole process thoroughly fascinating and educational, Wheeler on the other hand had been bored to tears. The whole thing was just one giant snooze fest for him. He was all for a fund to help aid in cleaning up oil spills but he didn't understand why they had to go all the way to D.C. when their actions didn't matter either way. Whether they sat through the drawn out debate or went wind surfing on Hope Island wouldn't make a difference in the fate of that bill and personally he would have chosen to spend his day doing the latter . . .

Wheeler stretched as the sun light shone down upon him. He tried to stifle a yawn but Gi caught him. She poked him in the side as she said, "Wheeler, don't tell me you were completely bored in there."

He shrugged. "Okay then I won't tell you."

Kwame raised his eye brows. "But this is your own country, how could you not find that the least be interesting?"

"Look politics . . . it just ain't my thing," he stated nonchalantly as he shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked a pebble down the long staircase leading from the Capitol Building.

Linka rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips as she made a snide remark. "Anything that requires Wheeler to use his brain is not his thing."

The other's laughed at Linka's remark while Wheeler just made a face at her.

"Well, I just hope this passes. The rewards of such a bill will be priceless to the marine life that lives in US waters," Gi said, her eyes shinning with hope for her sea friends.

Ma-Ti smiled at the water bearer. "Do not worry, Gi, I felt a good vibe in there. It's like I could see into the hearts of the Representatives and it felt like they all harbored compassion for the planet and the animals that suffer when oil is spilled into the seas and oceans. I think they are going to pass it."

Gi sighed in relief grateful for the inside peak her friend could give her. So far, Ma-Ti hadn't used his powers much aside from calling Captain Planet with the others. He knew his heart power was necessary to the group, Gaia had said on the fateful day they all became planeteers that his was the most important of them all for without a heart to guide them the others would be lost. However, despite her words, he was starting to feel a little useless because when it came to actually fighting the eco-villains or stopping disasters there wasn't much he could do. He just kind of tagged along to call Captain Planet if necessary, so it felt good for him to be able to give Gi an inside tip on the way the representatives were leaning. However he still hoped that his power would become more useful to the others.

"So gang what should we do now?" Kwame said, his voice snapping Ma-Ti out of the thoughts that were preoccupying him.

They planned to stay the night at a hotel since the bill would actually be voted on tomorrow then sent on to the Senate if the majority of the House voted in favor of it and they certainly didn't want to miss that, well all of them except for Wheeler anyway. Since none of them had been to the capital of The United States before, including Wheeler despite the fact that he was a native, they figured they could check out some of the historical landmarks and see the sights. The question was: what should they do first? Wheeler noticed Linka looking at a post-it note then around the area as if she were trying to find something.

"What're you lookin' for?" he asked curiously.

"I am looking for a specific street," she replied not stopping her search to spare him a glance as she answered.

"Why? You meetin' up with some guy for a hot date?" Wheeler teased.

Linka shot him a cool look as she said, "Do not be so ridiculous. If you must know, my Uncle Dmitri lives here. He is a Soviet ambassador to The United States. Since we are here, I would like to visit him and my cousin Boris, his son. We were like this growing up," she crossed her fingers to emphasize just how close their bond was, "then three years ago my Aunt Natasha died in a car accident and a year later my Uncle was moved to D.C. and I have hardly seen them since then. . ." she trailed off obviously saddened by this affair.

"Their house is not far from the Capitol Building according to a letter Boris sent me a while back. He told me to come visit if I was ever around here on planeteer business so I thought I would take him up on that," she concluded.

Ma-Ti inadvertently felt Linka's burning desire to see her family that she was currently harboring in her heart. His powers were slowly becoming very sensitive, picking up on powerful feelings of those around him and closest to his heart. He absentmindedly wondered if, over time, his power would become so perceptive that he would be able to pick up even the slightest feelings other humans were experiencing without even trying.

The young Seminal Indian put his hand on the pretty blonde's shoulder. "Then I think the first place we should stop is Uncle Dmitri's house."

The others were fine with that idea and so they all started looking for the streets written on Linka's post-it note.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka knocked on the door of a modest sized house. It was yellow with white shutters and a white door. It even had a cute little white picket fence. The stereotypical American family house as she'd seen on t.v. She knocked again a little harder, afraid that no one was home. Suddenly the door swung open to reveal a slightly stout, round man sporting a shaggy brown beard flecked with grey. He broke out in a toothy grin filled with surprise as his eyes fell on the familiar young blonde.

Linka!" he cried out as he scooped her up in a big bear hug that she gladly returned.

"Uncle Dmitri, it is so good to see you! It has been too long no?"

He set her down and gave her a good once over, his hands resting on her shoulders. "My goodness how you have grown, child! Look at you! You are almost as tall as me now!"

"Da, I have grown a bit since the last time we saw each other," she said with a sad smile.

"So what are you doing all the way out here?" he inquired.

"Well, we are here on business but since we were already in the area I wanted to stop by and see my favorite Uncle and cousin," she explained.

Her uncle noticed the other four teenagers standing on the walkway behind her for the first time. "Oh, who are your comrades, Linka?"

"These are the planeteers, the other four teenagers I work with now to help preserve our planet."

Dmitri stroked his beard as he replied, "Ah, that's right, your brother told me a few weeks ago about your new job."

He smiled at the others. "Please everyone, come inside, you are all welcome guests," he said as he started to reenter the house.

Linka waved at the others to follow her in. Once they were all seated in the living room Linka looked around trying to locate someone else. Finally she asked, "Uncle Dmitri, where is Boris?"

Her Uncle glanced at his son's picture hanging above the cream colored sofa as he spoke evenly, "he is at college right now."

Linka's eyes lit up, she was thrilled to hear that. "Really?! That is wonderful news, Uncle! What college?"

"Lincoln Memorial University. It is not far from here, but he joined a fraternity and so he wanted to live in the house and get the real American college experience," he finished, the tone of his voice revealing his dissatisfaction with the situation.

Linka didn't understand . . . well a couple of things. First she had never heard of a fraternity before so she didn't know what that meant. And second, why did her uncle sound unhappy about all this when he should be ecstatic that his son was bettering himself with a college education?

"What is this fraternity?" she asked puzzled by the new word added to her ever expanding English vocabulary. From the look on her uncle's face he didn't quite understand it completely himself. She looked at the other planeteers in the room and Wheeler was the only one who seemed to have a clue.

"A fraternity," he spoke up finally, "is supposed to be a brotherhood. It's an American thing from what I know. You see, at most college's they have a thing called a Greek system. If you "'go Greek'," Wheeler continued as he made quotes with his fingers, "that means you join a fraternity or a sorority which by the way is expensive as hell. Fraternities are for guys and sororities are for girls. They call it a Greek system because all the names are made up of Greek letters, don't ask me why. They are intended to be a way for students to develop close knit ties and deep friendships with fellow students, better themselves and the community by doing community service, and help students mature and grow. But if you ask me it's mostly a bunch of bull."

Linka was impressed by his knowledge of the subject. "What do you mean?" she asked, wanting him to elaborate.

Wheeler ran a hand through his messy red hair. "Well, from what I used to hear when I was livin' in New York, a lot of frats now-a-days are more about the wild partyin'. They binge drink often, do drugs, and I've heard rape is pretty common at a lot of the houses too. A lot of the people I hung out with back in high school used to tell all kinds of crazy stories about the fraternity parties they'd go to at some of the universities around the city. I never went myself, not my kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, some of them really do still care about the original meanin' and not all members who join get outta control, but a lot of them just use it as one big excuse to constantly party," he finished, slightly satisfied that for once he wasn't the ignorant one in the group.

"I see," was all Linka could think to say. She looked at her uncle. "Uncle Dmitri, what about Boris? How has he been since going to college and joining this fraternity?"

Dmitri let out a tiresome sigh. "Things are . . . different between us then they were before. He rarely comes home to see me, and now we hardly even talk on the phone. When we actually do talk he doesn't tell me much about school or the fraternity. Not even how he's feeling or life in general. It's like I hardly know my son anymore . . ." he finished shaking his head sadly.

"Do you have a number where I can reach him?" she asked.

He nodded his head. "Of course I do, why do you ask?"

"I would like to go take a look at this fraternity," she stated bluntly.

**xXxXxXx**

The Geo-cruiser touched down outside of a big, red brick house on the outskirts of Lincoln Memorial University's campus. Above the front doors were three big Greek letters that read "Alpha Sigma Epsilon." Several other houses similar to it lined the street all with Greek letters adorning the space above their front doors. Linka hopped out of the yellow aircraft and looked at the young man standing in the doorway. He waved as he called out to her.

"Hey, cousin! Long time no see!"

He eased down the front walkway at a leisurely gait and gave her a hug when he reached her.

"Welcome to frat row," he said as he gestured to the houses with Greek letters all around.

She smiled fondly and looked over his appearance. He looked different but she wasn't exactly sure how. Skinnier maybe? His hazel eyes seemed a little duller too since the last time she saw him and his brown hair was slightly unkempt. Maybe it was all that studying . . .

"Look at you, a real college guy. Boris, I am really proud of you," she said truthfully.

Boris had always been an A student like her, but after his mother passed away, he started having a difficult time with his school work and became what the school counselors deemed a "troubled child." The two cousins even started to drift apart due to his sudden attitude adjustment. His second semester senior year of high school he started to grow out of that faze and was able to skate by with enough credits to graduate, barely, so it seemed unlikely that he would go on to college. Yet here he was a full fledged college student whereas Linka, the girl with tons of extracurricular activities and a 4.0 GPA under her belt, was not. Life could be so ironic sometimes. Still she was happy for her cousin none-the-less and very proud to see him aiming for a higher education. She still intended too as well someday after all.

"Thanks, cuz. I couldn't believe it when you called me and said you were at my house! I thought you were joking for a minute," he laughed.

"Nyet I was not, I had to come here on planeteer business and I could not possibly think of passing up a chance to visit my favorite cousin," she winked, lightly punching his shoulder.

"This is great your timing couldn't be more perfect. We're throwin' a huge party tonight, it's gonna be off the hook!" he burst out excitedly.

Linka wasn't sure what "off the hook" meant exactly, but she got the impression from the tone of her cousin's voice that it was going to be quite the extravagant event.

"Come on, I'll show you around the house," he said as he took her hand and started to lead her up the walkway. She turned around and waved to the others before she disappeared into the frat house.

Kwame shut the door and started to lift the Geo-Cruiser back into the air. Linka had already made plans with her cousin when she was on the phone with him at her uncle's house. She was going to come by to see his fraternity house and the university's campus then she would go back to her uncle's house with her cousin and stay the night there instead of at the hotel with the others. Wheeler slouched in his seat staring at the fraternity house as it gradually disappeared beneath the trees, an uneasy feeling churning in the pit of his stomach.

"What's wrong, Wheeler?" Gi asked when she noticed the sour expression on his face.

"Nothin'," he mumbled in a grumpy tone, slouching down more.

Gi giggled at his demeanor. "Awwww, don't tell me your jealous that Linka's hanging out in a house full of college guys," she finished with a teasing pout.

Wheeler scowled at her. "It ain't that, I just don't think it's a good idea for her to be hangin' out there by herself. Those places, they ain't always chick friendly."

"She's with her cousin though. It's his fraternity so he knows all the guys. Besides, Linka's a smart girl she can take care of herself. I'm sure she'll be just fine," Gi stated, still trying to convince him not to be so uptight over what was probably nothing.

"Whatever . . ." was all Wheeler gave as a reply, his eyes continuing to watch the dull scenery outside the window as it careened by.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka and Boris were walking back up the steps to his fraternity house. They had just returned from a restaurant on the other side of campus. It was the perfect place for dinner because it gave them a reason to walk through the whole campus so Linka could see it first hand. It was a beautiful campus, red brick streets, massive old stone buildings, and lots of small gardens and fountains in the quad. There was even a bell tower that chimed differently every hour. The young blonde was in complete awe of the place. She couldn't help but envy Boris slightly for having the chance to attend classes on such a breathtaking campus.

The fraternity house he lived in, on the other hand, was hardly impressive. It was a disgusting mess unfit for human occupancy in her opinion. They were pretty much living in filth and squalor and the oddest thing to her was that they didn't even seem to care. The garbage cans in the bathrooms were over flowing with dirty paper towels, the soap dispensers were empty, the showers had mildew growing in them and the curtains were all torn down, half of the toilets were broken and the urinals reeked of ammonia from having 40 some different guys piss in them on a daily basis and no one cleaning them, there was no door on the second floor bathroom, the kitchen sink was full of dishes crusted with left over food particles and fruit flies buzzing around aimlessly, the floors seemed constantly sticky from old beer spills that were left un-cleaned, and the hallway smelled faintly of sweat and vomit. The recycling bin in the hallway was filled to capacity with empty beer bottles and cans and to her surprise, when Boris took her out the back door to start heading to the restaurant, she saw fifteen more recycling bins filled to the brim with more empty alcohol containers.

_At least they recycle . . . _she absentmindedly thought as she gawked at the busting bins.

Boris was so excited about his new place of residency and proud to be a "brother" that she didn't have the heart to tell him the place smelled rancid and looked worse so she just nodded and smiled at everything he showed her on the tour. The place had been pretty empty when she first arrived hours before. However when they returned from dinner there were several bodies wandering around the house aside from the brothers who lived there.

"In a half hour this place is gonna be packed watch," Boris said to his cousin. "And then the real party begins."

Boris took her around and introduced her to his fellow brothers in the meantime. Although they were slightly distracted and skittish for some odd reason, most of them seemed like nice guys, much to Linka's relief. Maybe Wheeler had been wrong.

_That stupid Yankee getting me all worried about Boris for nothing,_ she thought, cursing Wheeler in her mind.

True to Boris's claim, the house was loaded with random college students within a half hour of his statement. There were people everywhere. It was a new experience for Linka but one she didn't feel she was missing out on much. There was some dancing, and she liked to dance, but most of the people were just hanging around listening to late 80s pop music and slamming alcoholic drinks and she wasn't much for drinking. It just seemed like a waste of time and money to her. Plus, though eighteen was legal in her country, it wasn't in the U.S. and since that was the country she was currently in that made her a minor and she didn't like to break rules let alone laws.

Boris was in the big common room on the ground floor drinking beer and talking with a bunch of friends. Linka stood off to the side simply observing the on goings taking place in the room. Suddenly a few guys from the house ran through the front doors.

"The fun's finally here, let the real party begin!" one of them hollered to the crowd of people as he held up a small brown baggie and shook it slightly.

"First round is free, complements of Verminous Skumm! And there's more where this came from down on the docks at the warehouse on 45th street!" another shouted.

Everyone in the room cheered and began to gather around the three guys as they started to deal out small handfuls of whatever was in the bags. Linka saw Boris receive some of the product everyone was so excited about. She walked over to him to get a better look.

"Boris, what is going on? What is that in your hand?" she asked completely out of the loop.

He turned to his cousin and opened his hand to reveal several half yellow half green pills that emitted a faint glow. Linka crinkled her nose at the sight of them.

"What are those?"

"It's Bliss! This stuff's amazing! Oh man it makes you feel so good you wouldn't believe it! You just gotta try it!" he exclaimed.

Linka's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. "It is drugs! Bohze moy, Boris! What is wrong with you?! How could you even think about taking pills like that?! Get rid of that now!" she demanded sharply.

Boris rolled his eyes at her, she was always such a goodie-two-shoes. "Chill out, Linka, God. I bet if you went to college you'd waste all your time studying and shit. Why don't you live a little for once? I'm gonna live a lot," he said as he popped three into his mouth and chased them with a swig from his beer can.

Linka stared at him, mouth agape. She couldn't believe this was her cousin. Emotions swirled around inside of her. She was shocked, angry, and worried at the same time. He held out the remaining pills in his hand, offering some to her. She slapped them away without a second thought. The pills clattered to the floor and were immediately salvaged by other addicts in the room before Boris knew what happened. He grabbed his cousin by the shoulders and immediately began to shake her violently.

"What the hell did you do that for you stupid bitch?! Do you know how expensive that shit is?!" he screamed fiercely at her.

"Ow! Let go you are hurting me!" she yelled back as his fingernails dug into the soft flesh of her upper arms.

His grip loosened and he suddenly started to laugh hysterically. He backed away from his confused cousin and said, "These things are great, I so don't even care anymore that you threw my pills to the floor! Ahahahahaha! Almost everyone on campus does Bliss anyway and as long as I bring fresh people to Skumm he'll give me extra!"

"Boris . . ." Linka said softly, not sure what else to say. He continued to laugh and rant about how he didn't have a care in the world now. She reached a hand out to her cousin.

"Boris, please, let me help you," she pleaded with him.

He rounded on her, his eyes wide with insanity. "I don't need your help! Why would I need help?! I feel great!" he screamed out.

Linka didn't know what to do she had never been in this type of situation before. She wasn't sure how to handle a person blitzed out of their mind. Everyone else was getting high off the pills as well. She felt completely helpless. Suddenly, Boris put his hands over his face and started to yell angrily. Linka took a step back, his sudden change in mood taking her by surprise.

"No, they're already wearing off! I need more, have to . . . block . . . the pain . . ." he squeezed out between ragged breaths. He ran over to one of the guys still holding a bag full.

"Please, you have to give me more! I can't take it, I NEED it now!" he begged.

The man pushed him away. "No way, you had your freebees for the night."

"Please, Trent, I'll give you anything just give me more pills," Boris cried his body shaking with the need for more.

His frat brother looked around and his lustful eyes fell on Linka. He smiled maliciously, "Fine, give me your cousin for the night and we got a deal."

"She's yours just give me some Bliss!" Boris yelled not hesitating to sell out his cousin.

Linka gasped, "Boris, how could you!?"

He turned to her, his eyes desperate. "It's only for the night, Linka, you're a tough girl you can handle it."

He turned back to Trent holding out his shaking hands expectantly. The guy dumped a small handful into Boris' hands then head for Linka. She started backing up but was soon against a wall. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Boris knocking back more pills.

"You are so fine," the young man said as he approached her, his eyes moving over the curves of her body hungrily

She held her ring out defensively in front of her. "Stop right there!" she ordered, "or you will be sorry!"

Trent chuckled. "Don't be scared, baby; I'll be gentle . . . enough."

Linka didn't wait for him to get closer. "Wind!" she cried as a small gust came out and knocked the guy to the ground. That got the attention of most of the people in the room. Boris was staring at his cousin with a quizzical look.

"Linka, how did you do that?" he asked puzzled.

She didn't bother to answer him. She quickly made for the door. As she passed by Trent's fallen body he lashed out his hand and firmly gripped her ankle. He tugged hard successfully pulling her to the ground. Wasting no time he grabbed her ring hand and held it to the floor rendering her defenseless.

"That was a pretty neat trick. Maybe I can get something for that little trinket of yours when I'm done with you," he growled as he grabbed her other arm and yanked her up roughly. He made sure to keep her ring hand pinned behind her back and pointing at the floor as he started to drag her out of the room.

"Nyet! Stop! Get off of me!! Let me go!!!" she kicked and screamed, but her cries fell on deaf ears.

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N:** Okay, before anyone can say I'm hatin' on university Greek Life, I've been dating a frat boy for almost three years and this past year I joined a sorority myself, although I didn't join a Pan-Helenic one, I joined an independent service sorority for my resume and to help less fortunate individuals (in fact the name of Boris' frat is my sorority backwards lol). Since it's a service sorority rather than a social one I hoped it would be less drama filled but that doesn't seem to be the case unfortunately :( It can be just as bad as a regular one! Though Greek Life is still good on some campuses sadly it is a well known fact that the system on my university's campus has gotten pretty terrible (although the school is still pretty good as far as a state university goes anyway). So the things Wheeler was talking about and Linka saw are rather common at my school (some of our frats have drug rooms believe it or not). Well that's all for now, the next chapter will be just as serious. See-ya then!

_**SakuraJade**_


	5. Linka's Loss

**A/N:** After the cliff hanger from the last chapter I hope everyone is ready for the next installment. This one is pretty traumatic as well and it's going to be a key factor in future events . . . Thank you so much for the thoughtful reviews, I really appreciate them! They help me to know if the story is going in a direction the audience finds entertaining etc. and seeing that most of you are fellow authors on this site you can understand the importance of that.

I was also impressed with the amount of people that knew the original title of the ep involving Boris and Bliss, "Mind Pollution." Some of you said it was one of your fav eps but haven't seen CP in years, well **I'm gonna let ya in on something great.** You can watch almost every ep, including the 6th season that wasn't released in the U.S. until several year after the show had been stopped (which is weird since it's an AMERICAN cartoon) on Cartoon Network for an Earth Day marathon. There is a website called **GUBA **(a site similar to youtube) which has a ton of eps. You can even search for specific eps by typing in "Captain Planet" followed by the name of the ep you want to see. If it's there it usually comes up as the first choice. Some are better quality than others but hey what can ya do, free is free right? CP is also still on Boomerang (a division of CN) supposedly but we don't get Boomerang at my house so I wouldn't know if that's true or not. But anyway Mind Pollution is one of the eps you can watch on that site if anyone wants to see the original ep. Well that's all, so without further adieu, here's chapter 5.

Disclaimer: "I don't own Captain Planet or the Planeteers."

_Italics_ means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter5: Linka's Loss_

Wheeler was laying on one of the beds channel surfing at the hotel. Ma-Ti was on the bed next to him, watching his teammate continuously flip through the channels in boredom. Kwame and Gi were at the table chatting idly. Since Gi was the only girl for the night, it wouldn't be worth the money to rent a separate room solely for her, so all four of them were going to stay in the same room. She and Wheeler would each take a bed, Mat-Ti was going to sleep on the sofa sleeper and Kwame would be taking the roll-out bed they had requested.

"Wheeler, you're not even staying on one channel long enough to know what's on it," Ma-Ti said to the red head.

"Yes I am," he shot back still flipping channels.

Ma-Ti narrowed his eyes accusingly. "You are only waiting a second on each channel!"

"It only takes me a second to know I don't wanna watch somethin'," was Wheeler's curt reply.

Ma-Ti laid back on the bed and stared up at the stark white ceiling. It wasn't worth an argument. He knew Wheeler was still unhappy that Linka was at that fraternity house. He was being so childish . . . Suddenly Ma-Ti bolted upright grabbing his head. His head was throbbing with an intense pain that was hitting him in waves. It felt like someone had recently bashed his skull with a hammer. Wheeler noticed and dropped the remote to the bed as he sat up facing Ma-Ti, the search for a good channel forgotten.

"Hey man, you okay?" he asked unsure of what was going on with the young boy.

"My head! It hurts so bad!" Ma-Ti said clenching his jaw, trying to hold back the screams that were threatening to erupt from his throat. He didn't know what was going on, the pain was so fierce and sudden.

Wheeler got off the bed and knelt down next to the boy. Gi and Kwame rushed over from the table they had been seated at seconds earlier.

"Ma-Ti, what is the matter?" Kwame questioned, his eyes reflecting nothing but worry for his friend.

"I don't know, but the pain, I feel like my head is about to split open! It is unbearable!" he cried as tears squeezed through his tightly shut eyelids. The pain became so excruciating he let out a wail of agony unable to hold it at bay anymore.

The others didn't know what to do for their young teammate. Another wave of pain hit Ma-Ti, but this one revealed a little of what was going on. Though it was fuzzy and hard to make out, he saw a glimpse of Linka in his mind. She was frightened and yelling and it looked like she was being restrained against her will.

_Is she in trouble? Is this my heart power telling me something is wrong with my friend?_ he wondered through the pain.

He gritted his teeth and gained as much control as he could, then rasped out, "It's Linka."

What about her?" Gi asked not sure what the blonde Russian had to do with this, she wasn't even there.

"She's . . . she's in trouble . . ." he continued his breathing ragged. He opened his eyes briefly then squeezed them shut again trying to gain control of the situation.

"Whatdaya mean she's in trouble!" Wheeler yelled apprehensively.

"I don't know it is too hard to see . . ." Ma-Ti said still holding his pounding head helplessly in his hands. Not sure what to do about it, he held his ring to his forehead hoping it would help.

"Heart," he commanded and suddenly the picture in his head became much clearer.

"She's scared. Her cousin, he's in trouble somehow," he gasped out against the pain, "She's struggling against someone. A man, it looks like he's trying to force her down. I . . . I think he's going to-"

Wheeler cut him off not wanting to hear the end of that sentence. "We have to get there now!"

He turned to the other two in the room. "Kwame, you come with me. Gi, you stay with Ma-Ti," he ordered as he headed for the door, Kwame behind him.

They jumped into the Geo-Cruiser and Wheeler rushed it back to the fraternity house. His mind was racing. _I knew it was a bad idea for her to stay there by herself! God please don't let us be too late . . . _

**xXxXxXx**

The yellow eco-friendly aircraft roughly landed on the front lawn of the Alpha Sigma Epsilon house tearing out a few chunks of grass in the process. Wheeler and Kwame wasted no time. They were out of the aircraft and running through the front door in seconds. As soon as they got in the common room on the ground floor Wheeler spotted Boris swaying back and forth and laughing with others who were acting the same way.

He grabbed the Russian boy by the front of his shirt. "Where's Linka?"

Boris looked at Wheeler quizzically for a second then started laughing again as if the anxious youth had just told a joke rather than asked a question.

Wheeler frowned at his behavior. "I asked you a question where is she?"

"Who?" Boris squeezed out between laughs.

"Your cousin, dumbass! What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked shaking the boy slightly out of frustration.

"No, what's wrong with you, dude?" Boris countered gasping for air, his sides sore from laughing so much. Everything just seemed so damn funny.

"Just tell me where Linka is now!" the fiery American demanded.

Boris jerked his head to the doorway. "Trent took her up to his room," he finally revealed already bored with Wheeler.

He shoved Boris back away from him and head for the door way leading upstairs, Kwame following suite. They ran down the hallway not sure which room was Trent's or if it was even on that floor. As they flew past a door with a poster of the St. Pauli's beer girl tacked on it they caught sounds of a struggle and stopped. Wheeler heard the word "nyet" and that was all he needed. He tried the doorknob but it was locked. With Kwame's help he swiftly kicked down the rickety door. He felt a rage like no other burning inside of him at the sight before him.

Linka was on the floor. Her shirt was pulled up just high enough to reveal her smooth, flat stomach and part of the lace on her powder blue bra. The scar tissue still fresh from the wound she acquired at Dr. Blight's factory a week before clearly visible on her side. The guy straddling her was currently unbuttoning her shorts with one hand, his other hand pinning her arms to the floor above her head rendering her helpless.

"It was hell to get you up those stairs but it was worth it," he growled heading for the zipper.

Wheeler grabbed him by his hair and ripped him off the frightened girl before he could lay another hand on her. He slammed the college kid into the wall holding him there with little effort. Linka quickly sat up, pulling her shirt down as she did.

Wheeler, Kwame!" she cried in relief as she spied them both. She hastily wiped the tears away that had formed in the corners of her eyes.

The young African hurried across the room and helped her to her feet. "Linka, are you alright?"

"I am now thanks to you two," she said fixing her shorts with shaking fingers. She looked over to Wheeler. He still had Trent pinned to the wall. He looked so mad it was almost inhuman . . .

"Who the hell are you? Get outta my room!" Trent yelled struggling to get free of Wheeler's grasp.

"How dare you touch her? After what you tried to do to Linka, I should fry you to a crisp!" Wheeler spat in the frat boy's face.

He was so enraged he could feel a burning sensation growing in his chest and spreading through his limbs. It almost felt like he was using his ring on himself. He was hot all over, albeit not in pain, and his skin was even taking on a red hue. Trent's eyes were wide, conveying his clear discomfort.

Trent blew on Wheeler's hands, the fistful of his clothing wedged between the angry planeteer's fingers had started to smolder slightly. "Get off me man! What're you doing?"

Wheeler really wasn't sure. He couldn't control whatever it was. It was like a natural response to his anger at seeing what was about to happen to Linka. It was powerful and it felt like it could do some serious damage to this guy and that was a good thing as far as Wheeler was concerned. The unfamiliar surge of power was intense.

"I'm gonna make you so sorry you son of a bi-"

"Wheeler, stop!" Linka cried out as she placed her hand on his shoulder. She pulled it back slightly, surprised by the heat that was radiating from him. The minute she touched him he felt a cool sensation spread over his body and extinguish the fire burning inside him.

"Please, I just want to get out of here," she added meekly.

Wheeler stared Trent in the eyes evenly before he dropped him to the ground in a heap. Without a word he embraced her then he pulled away and asked, "Are you okay, Linka?"

She nodded, "Da, you two got here just in time thankfully."

His face flooded with relief at her words. He silently put his arm around her and led her out of the room. Kwame looked at the guy left on the floor and took note of the singed spots on his shirt before walking out as well. Once they got back down to the common room, Linka glanced around for her cousin but he was no where to be found.

**xXxXxXx**

Boris was in the alley behind the fraternity house talking to a man in a trench coat, a red scarf adorning his head.

"I told you before kid, if you ain't got the cash ya can't have the stash," the man finished turning to walk away from the shaking youth coming down from his most recent trip on Bliss.

"Wait!" he called out, his voice laced with desperation. "What if I could get you a ring with power?"

The man stopped in his tracks, his back still to the young addict. "I'm listening."

"My cousin, she has this special ring, she can control the wind with it. If I can get you that, will you give me more?" Boris asked.

The man in the trench coat turned to face him again and stepped under the street light revealing a face that resembled a rat. He mauled over the boys proposition. If this girl was who he though she was from recent rumors he could solve a lot of future problems by getting rid of her now.

"Kid if you can bring me that girl I'll give you a life time supply of Bliss," the drug dealer sneered.

The boy nodded his head, agreeing to the rat man's terms.

**xXxXxXx**

The ride back to the hotel had been relatively quiet. Linka had asked how they even knew to come save her so Wheeler and Kwame filled her in about Ma-Ti's sudden outburst. With that explained, she contented herself with staring out the window silently. Wheeler was lost in his own thoughts about that mysterious power he seemed to conjure when he found Linka in such a dyer state and Kwame was busying directing the Geo-Cruiser back to the hotel. Once they got there Gi flooded them with questions, concerned for their wellbeing. Ma-Ti was doing better his headache had ebbed away once Linka was safe. Still he was exhausted from the mental strain and was lying down to recover some strength. He sat up once the other three planeteers returned, happy to see Linka was indeed safe now.

"Linka, thank God! Are you okay? I was worried sick about you after what Ma-Ti said!" Gi cried hugging her friend.

"Da, I am okay, Gi," she replied hoping her voice was convincing.

In truth her calm exposure was a façade. She was an internal mess. She still wasn't over the shock of almost being raped, plus she was worried sick about her cousin. He needed help immediately but she wasn't sure how to help him. Linka walked over to Ma-Ti and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Ma-Ti, if it was not for you I . . . I . . ." she trailed off not able to finish her sentence, it was too much.

Ma-Ti placed his hand over hers. "Do not worry about it my friend I'm just glad Kwame and Wheeler got to you in time."

"I am sorry you were in so much pain because of me."

Ma-Ti smiled faintly. "It was worth it to have you safe."

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly at the young South American boy's words. She felt blessed at that moment to have such true friends.

Gi sat down on the bed next to Ma-Ti and looked at Linka. "I still don't understand what happened. How did you end up in that situation in the first place? Where was your cousin?"

Linka looked away, her eyes betraying the sorrow that was in her heart. Ma-Ti flinched a little in response. It was so powerful that although he wasn't trying to feel it he could somewhat.

She lowered herself onto the bed across from Ma-Ti and Gi as she said, "My cousin . . . he traded me to that guy for the night to get more drugs . . ."

Kwame spoke up. "I knew it. When Wheeler and I first arrived we found Boris as soon as we went in the house but something was wrong with him. He was not normal."

"He is taking some kind of pill called Bliss. I have never heard of it before. He told me most of the students on campus are doing it including the guys in his fraternity it would seem. He offered me some and of course I refused. I threw them away and he was outraged. He grabbed me forcefully and actually cursed at me. Shortly after that he did not even care that I threw them away. It was so strange. But it did not last long. Suddenly he was unhappy and crying for more. One of the guys in his fraternity made a deal that if Boris would let him have me for the night then he would give him more pills . . ."

She let out a shuddered breath and continued, "I cannot believe Boris is doing drugs. Uncle Dmitri is going to be so crushed when he finds out. That will have to wait though, right now I have to go find Boris," she finished as she rose from the bed.

Wheeler had remained silent so far, still standing near the door. But at Linka's statement he couldn't help interjecting. "What? Are you freakin' serious? There's no way you're goin' out lookin' for your cousin when he's runnin' around doped up on pills!"

"But he is my cousin, Wheeler! I cannot just leave him out there alone!" she said heatedly.

"He sold you out, Linka! It's his fault you almost got raped tonight!"

There, it was said. No one had actually voiced the word "rape" yet in talking about what almost happened to Linka back at the fraternity house and for good reason. It sounded terrible. It left a sour taste in Wheeler's mouth as it passed over his lips and an unwelcome mental image was forced into everyone's mind briefly, but it was the truth and Wheeler wasn't about to stand by and watch idly as Linka jeopardized her safety for the second time that night. He understood that Boris was her cousin, but after he'd put her in that awful situation all for more drugs how could she think of turning right around and going out to look for him?

"You are not my boss, Wheeler!" she yelled, defending her independence. She wasn't a child.

"Maybe not but I am the one who saved your ass twice!" he spat back.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "One of those times I was only in trouble because of you to begin with!"

He glared at her but said nothing because technically she was right. She narrowed her eyes at him and said defiantly, "You cannot stop me."

He took a step forward. "Like hell I can't. I'm not about to let you go out there at all hours of the night lookin' for a drug addict."

She opened her mouth to reply but Kwame stepped between them to bring an end to their unnecessary argument.

"Alright you two that is enough. Your bickering isn't going to solve anything."

He turned to Linka. "I know you are worried about your cousin, but Wheeler is right. You should not be wandering around bad neighborhoods all by yourself, especially at this hour. So we will all go and look for your cousin, together."

Linka maintained eye contact with Wheeler for a second more, then she looked at Kwame and said, "Fine, then let us go. We have no time to waste, Boris could be in serious trouble," she said as she brushed past Wheeler and headed for the door again.

"But where will we start looking?" Gi asked quietly.

"The supplier," she answered and walked out the door.

Wheeler sighed in frustration but followed behind her none-the-less. Gi looked at Kwame and they hurried after the other two, Ma-Ti not far behind.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka landed the Geo-Cruiser in front of an abandoned warehouse on the edge of 45th street. Immediately after arriving the five planeteers started to comb the area looking for Boris.

"Don't go too far, we do not know who to expect here," Kwame advised the group.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Gi replied, her eyes shifting nervously from one side to the other.

Ma-Ti held up his ring, "Heart." After a few seconds he lowered it and frowned. "This place is full of negative energy . . ."

Linka wasted no time in searching for her cousin. She briskly walked the grounds of the warehouse.

_Boris, where are you?_

She walked around the building and a few feet away near the entrance stood the object of her search. She swiftly covered the ground between them.

"Thank goodness I found you!"

He looked at her with an empty expression. When she was almost to him he ran for the door of the building.

"Boris, please wait!" she called out to him but he did not heed her plea.

He ran on into the building, Linka still pursuing him. Gi came around the corner of the building just in time to see a blonde ponytail disappear inside. She hurried back to the others so they could follow. Linka stopped shortly after passing through the doors. The place was filthy and pretty empty for its size. There were a few tables and a bunch of boxes scattered throughout the room. One of the tables had several vials and test tubes littering the hard plastic top. There were a few Bunsen burners lit with flasks of yellow liquid boiling atop. Linka glanced around and spotted Boris near the table with the lab equipment. She slowly approached him.

"Boris, we have to-" she stopped mid-sentence as another figure stepped out of the shadows behind her cousin. The man put his hand on Boris's shoulder and sneered at the blonde.

"Welcome to my humble abode my dear."

Linka narrowed her eyes. "You must be Skumm I presume."

"That I am," he replied, a smug smile creeping onto his rat-like face.

"A befitting name for such a loathsome man," she said sharply as she took a step towards them.

"Such flattery I just might blush."

Linka gritted her teeth, her fists subconsciously clenching in response. Skumm turned to Boris. "So this is your cousin who can control the wind?"

Boris simply nodded his head.

"Ya did good kid," he said as he handed him a bag, "here's your reward, a life time supply of bliss as promised."

Boris greedily snatched the bag from Scum's hands. He looked at it then back at his dealer skeptically.

"A life time supply? This is only one bag!" he yelled.

"Trust me, kid, I never go back on a deal," Scum said simply.

Boris slinked away with the bag clutched tightly in his hands. The amount in the bag would do for now, he could always bug Skumm for more when it ran out. The other four planeteers ran through the doors and stopped.

Gi stared blatantly at Scum, a distasteful look plastered to her face. "Who is that?"

"Vermonus Skumm's the name, dealing in Bliss is my current game," he stated proudly.

Wheeler pointed an accusing finger at him. "So you're the one who messed up Linka's cousin and caused all this trouble! You can bet your ass you're gonna pay for that!"

"I don't think so," he said with a maniacal grin.

He whistled and others stepped out of the shadows. They were unkempt, dirty, and resembled zombies minus the rotting factor.

"Those who dispose of the trespassers will be rewarded with free Bliss!"

The addicts in the room started to encircle the four eco-teens. They backed into each other surrounded. Linka was cut off from the others but they could surely handle themselves. She ran towards her cousin as she saw him take a handful of pills out of the sack.

"You have to get rid of that stuff, please," she begged him.

He continued on, raising the pills to his mouth.

"Boris, stop!" she yelled as she grabbed his wrist.

He looked up at her, anger flaring in his eyes. He threw her down to the ground in one swift motion. She stared up at him with eyes of despair.

"No you stop, Linka! You don't understand how I feel! I haven't felt this good since my mom died! This is the only thing that makes everything seem okay anymore!"

Linka pulled herself off the floor and stared at her cousin incredulously, "How can you say I do not know how you feel? In case you have forgotten I have lost both of my parents! At least you still have your father!"

"It's not the same!"

"And it never will be! A day does not go by that I do not think of my parents and miss them, but life goes on! It will always hurt but it is just something you will have to learn to deal with without using drugs!"

I didn't just lose my mother I lost my closest cousin right after that too!"

Linka's eyes widened in surprise, she didn't expect that. "What do you mean, I never went anywhere. You are the one who moved to the U.S."

"Not until a year after Mom was gone! We were still in high school together our entire sophomore year and part of junior year too! But you were too busy worrying about your own grades and all your clubs and activities to spend your time trying to help me!"

"That is not true!" Linka yelled in defense but Boris continued to assault her with hurtful words.

"You didn't want to tarnish your perfect reputation by associating with a troublemaker! Then you started dating that Ivan and spent all your time with him! You weren't there for me!"

Boris's words cut through her like a hot knife through butter. She was at a loss for words. She never knew he felt that she had abandoned him in his time of need. The others were trying to keep Skumm's followers at bay. Wheeler punched one in the stomach dropping him to the floor.

"Man if only I could use my ring to torch these lackeys!"

Kwame shoved one to the side. "No, Wheeler, we must not harm them! They are still people!"

"But if we don't do something soon we're going to be in trouble," Gi said, ducking as a man tried to grab her.

Linka blinked back the tears threatening to come. This was no time for crying. "Boris, please, if you just-"

"No, it's too late. You weren't there for me then so don't try to be there for me now," he finished and popped an entire handful of pills into his mouth.

Wheeler knocked a guy off of Ma-Ti. He shouted over to Skumm, "As soon as we get rid of these guys your drugs are next!"

Skumm cackled in amusement. Linka looked over at him furiously as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Go ahead, I have the recipe right here, I can easily make more!"

As soon as he finished his sentence Linka tackled him in an effort to get the paper containing the ingredients for Bliss. The pair rolled into the lab table set up sending everything flying. The beakers full of liquid splashed the boxes sitting around and soon caught fire from the Bunsen burners that were lying on the ground still ignited. Skumm cursed and started searching frantically for his ingredients sheet, which he had dropped among the mess of now burning boxes when he fell. The fire was spreading quickly since the wood used to construct the warehouse had dry rotted years ago. The junkies surrounding the planeteers ditched their efforts to hurt them and ran out of the building to save themselves.

"We have to leave this place quickly!" Ma-Ti shouted over the spreading fire.

Linka hurried over to her cousin. Since he had taken more Bliss he was in a state of nirvana despite the fact that he was standing in a burning building. He was laughing at the situation.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" she yelled at him.

Before Linka could say another word Boris abruptly stopped laughing. He stared at Linka for a split second with a look of shock on his face then he collapsed to the ground wordlessly. Linka immediately dropped to the floor next to him. She started to call to him as she shook him, desperate for a response of any kind.

"Boris? No, Boris, get up we have to get out of here! Please, Boris, get up! Get up!"

The others ran over to get her, the building falling apart around them.

"Linka, what're you doin'? We hafta get outta here!" Wheeler yelled.

She ignored him and continued to try and rouse her cousin. Gi bent down and checked his pulse, but there wasn't one to check. She looked at Linka solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Linka, he's gone. He must have over dosed . . ."

Linka burst into tears and started crying hysterically as she pounded on Boris's back, still demanding that he rise.

"I told him it was a life time supply of Bliss," Skumm jeered as he rose from the ground, giving up on finding his recipe for Bliss. This plan might be over but there would surely be more.

He called out to them over his shoulder as he ran out the exit, "Until we met again planeteers!"

Wheeler gently pulled Linka away from her cousin's body. She resisted at first, clinging to Boris's figure, refusing to give up on him a second time, but eventually she gave in. Without a word, Wheeler scooped her up and headed for safety, the others already ahead of them.

She stared over Wheeler's shoulder at Boris's body as he took her farther away from her cousin.

"It is all my fault! I will never forgive myself! I am so sorry, Boris!" she sobbed into Wheeler's chest as her cousin's lifeless body was engulfed within the flames of his final resting place.

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N:** Not much to say other than review and let me know what you think, I greatly appreciate the feed back, I don't think I can stress that enough. Sorry it took me so long to update this chapter, it's been done for a couple of weeks but it needed to be proofread a few times and I worked nine straight days in a row plus my sister's devil children were here quite a bit recently (devil is almost an understatement) and they need constant supervision. Not to mention the final Harry Potter book came out and so I was reading that too. I'm done with it now though so that won't get in the way anymore lol The story gets a little darker from here on out so you know. See you in chapter 6.

_**SakuraJade **_


	6. The Great Panda Poaching Project

**A/N: **Hey everybody, I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to post! I've had it written out in a notebook for a little bit (class is SO boring) but school has been very demanding homework wise. I have written so many papers this semester that it's been hard to sit down and write for fun. Plus October has been a hard month for my family. First my Guinea Pig Ryo-Oki died on the 6th. She lived a long and happy life (about 8 years) so it was her time but it was still a little sad :( Then on the 19th one of my cousins died. Finally on Sunday the 28th, my dad's twin brother had a sudden stroke and passed away Tuesday the 30th. My dad is devastated and so is my aunt. She just lost her daughter and her dog with in two years of now losing her husband. He was only 58, just retired and he was so looking forward to it and he didn't even get his first pension check. And he and my dad had so many plans and now my dad won't get to do those plans with his brother, it's really sad :'( I'm doing okay personally because I wasn't super close with either my cousin or my Uncle, although I did see my uncle a lot and he was my God Father as well. Mostly though, I just feel bad for the family. We all still can't believe they are gone because it was so sudden. But that's mostly why this chapter was delayed.

_Disclaimer:_ "I don't own Captain Planet and the Planeteers or anything related to it for that matter, Ted Turner and TBS/Hana-barbara do as far as I know. This story is completely for the fun of writing and sharing."

_italics _means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 6: The Great Panda Poaching Project_

Gi walked into the dinning room alone, much to the others dismay. She shrugged as she approached the table and pulled out a chair.

"Sorry guys, she still won't come out of her room," she said apologetically as she grabbed a plate for dinner.

Wheeler sighed heavily as he roughly piled some salad on his plate.

"This is not good. Linka hasn't left her room in days!" Ma-Ti said incredulously.

"Yeah and she needs to eat, this ain't healthy," Wheeler added.

Gi threw her hands up, exasperated with the situation.

"Of course it's unhealthy! It's not like I don't agree with you but what can we do?! We can't make her come out or make her eat! She lost her cousin so it's natural that she's depressed."

"Gi is right. This is something that will take time and the only thing we can really do is let her know we are here for her in any way we can be," Kwame stated in his usual calming tone.

Wheeler dropped his fork onto his plate with a loud clatter displaying his loss of appetite.

"Well what about her being here for us?" he said as he shoved his plate of food away.

"Wheeler, she-"

"Lost her cousin, I know," he replied cutting Gi off, "But the rest of the world ain't gonna stop turnin' and wait for her to be over this. I mean she hasn't shown up for any of our trainin' sessions since we got back from D.C. and an eco-emergency could happen any day-"

"Like today," came Gaia's voice from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look at the spirit of the Earth approaching gracefully but with a worried look set on her face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, planeteers, but we have an eco-emergency on our hands."

The four teens rose from the table, the half eaten dinner immediately forgotten, and followed Gaia to the crystal chamber. As they entered the room Linka walked in from the beach. Everyone stared at her openly, surprised to see her there. Her eyes were slightly red rimmed and puffy and she sniffled a bit making it obvious that she had been crying again recently. But she was dressed and there with the rest of the team so it was a start. Gaia smiled at the blonde's attendance.

"I got your message, Gaia, what is the problem?" Linka asked meekly.

The earth spirit's smiled deepened in response. "I'm glad to see you, Linka; I wish it was under better circumstances though."

She waved her hand over the crystal viewer and a man sporting a tacky green suit and slicked back hair with a ponytail at the nape of his neck appeared.

"Who's the pimp?" Wheeler asked humorously.

"This is Looten Plunder and he is causing our current eco-emergency. He is a poacher and right now he's in the southwestern mountains in the Sichuan province of central China taking panda's illegally," she answered.

Ma-Ti stared at the panda's locked in crates on the screen, the color draining from his face. He put a hand to his temple trying to ward off the small throbbing that was beginning to build from the scene on the screen.

"We must go free them immediately!" he cried.

"My sentiments exactly," Gaia said.

"You got it, Gaia! This panda poacher's gonna pay! Let's get to the Geo-Cruiser gang!" Wheeler yelled leading the way out the door.

Linka was the last one out but before she left Gaia stopped her.

"Linka, can I have a moment?" she requested.

The young girl stopped and looked at her boss. Gaia placed her hand on Linka's shoulder lovingly. She took a deep breath and held eye contact with the Russian.

"Linka . . . I know you are dealing with a tremendous tragedy that is still rather fresh but unfortunately the world waits for no one. World issues won't wait for you to be ready to deal with them but you must find the strength to continue your planeteer duties," she inhaled deeply and continued, "People all over the world need you, and so do the others. Remember your teammates are here for you as well as me."

Linka smiled faintly, "Thank-you, Gaia."

Gaia gave her shoulder a motherly squeeze before releasing her. Linka turned to leave but Gaia's voice stopped her halfway through the door.

"One more thing, dear."

She turned back to the beautiful spirit.

"I know you feel responsible for your late cousin's fate and that you now doubt your worth, but you must not do that to yourself or the consequences could be disastrous," Gaia said with worrisome eyes.

Linka opened her mouth to say something, but Gi appeared in the doorway and spoke before she could.

"Linka, are you coming? The Geo-Cruiser's ready to go."

"Yes, Gi, I am coming now," she replied.

She eyed Gaia suspiciously before following her Asian companion to the aircraft ready for take off. They climbed in and took their seats as Kwame set the navigational systems for mainland China.

**xXxXxXx**

Several hours later the Geo-Cruiser touched down outside a small village in the mountains of the Sichuan province. Kwame opened the doors and everyone piled out and took a look around. Linka looked in awe at the scene laid out before them. The Geo-Cruiser was parked near a giant ravine with a cascading waterfall spilling into it creating a rapidly flowing river at the bottom. A rickety old wooden bridge crossed it leading to a tiny village on the other side. The entire area was covered in a sea of endless trees. Wheeler stepped next to her, his hands in the pockets of his baggy jeans, and whistled at the scenery surrounding them.

"Would ya look at this place? Man, why can't all our missions take us to places like this?" he thought out loud.

Linka said nothing in response as she continued to stare blankly. Wheeler and Linka walked back to the Geo-Cruiser simultaneously when Kwame called everyone over.

"So what's the game plan, Kwame?" Wheeler asked.

"Well for starters we could check the village across the gorge for information about Plunder. Then we'll have to set out on foot to look for Plunder's camp because the trees are too dense for an aerial search from the Geo-Cruiser," he instructed.

With that decided, the team headed for the rope bridge that led to the village. They didn't get far in their journey when Wheeler was pegged in the head from behind by a small stone. He let out a yelp of surprise as he put his hand to his head automatically and turned to search for the one responsible.

"What's wrong, Wheeler?" Gi asked, surprised by his sudden out burst.

"Somethin' hit me," he said vehemently.

Kwame walked past Wheeler and looked around. "Is someone there?" he called out.

Another pebble was beamed off Wheeler's forehead in response.

"What the hell!?" he bellowed, eye's darting for the culprit.

Suddenly a kid a little smaller than Ma-Ti jumped out of a nearby tree with a sling shot raised pointedly at Wheeler.

"Leave this place now!" he demanded, "We do not need anymore trouble here!"

"Yo, we ain't here to cause trouble, we just wanna know where Plunder-ow!" Wheeler cut himself off as the kid shot him again.

"Why you little . . ."

Suddenly Linka plucked the slingshot from the young boy's hand. She had managed to approach the boy while he was distracted with Wheeler. He turned to the blonde towering over him and glared, although it didn't faze her in the slightest. He jumped to try and retrieve it but she held it much higher than he could reach.

"Hey! Give that back!" he shouted.

"Nyet, I will not," she replied simply.

"I'm not afraid of you!" he announced bravely.

"Good, we don't want you to be," Ma-Ti said approaching the boy.

The boy stepped back, unsure of what to think.

Kwame took a turn to speak. "We are here to find a man named Looten Plunder."

The young boy's face hardened at the mention of Plunder's name. Gi noticed and quickly added, "We are here to stop him."

"Who are you people?" he asked his guard still raised.

"We're the planeteers, who're you?" Wheeler barked, still irritated from the slingshot attack.

"I am Ling. I live in the village over there," he said pointing across the ravine.

"Well, Ling, my name is Gi, and this is Kwame, Ma-Ti, Wheeler, and Linka."

As Gi finished the introduction Linka handed the slingshot back to Ling assuming he wouldn't use it on them again. He snatched it back defensively but stowed the weapon back in a pouch at his hip. Taking his self-disarmament as a good sign, Kwame spoke again.

"We need to find Plunder so we can stop him. Can you help us?"

Ling looked at each teen carefully before answering.

"No," he paused, taking in their disappointed faces before continuing, "but my father can."

The planeteers looked happy to have a starting point after all. Ling headed for the bridge, motioning for the others to follow. The group stepped onto the old bridge, Ling leading the way. Linka was slightly uneasy about being on the swaying bridge. Wheeler was behind her and took note of her rigid form. He smiled impishly before he purposefully shook the bridge, causing Linka to grab the fraying rope railings immediately. Wheeler laughed out loud tipping Linka off that the sudden movement was in fact due to her jocular teammate.

She turned around and glared at Wheeler. "Grow up, Yankee!" she shouted as she shoved him.

The bridge gave another jolt from her action eliciting the same response as before, which aroused another wave of laughter from the American. Linka scurried across the rest of the bridge quickly while Wheeler continued his leisurely gait, snickering at Linka the whole way.

**xXxXxXx**

The planeteers followed Ling through the tiny village, taking note of the people milling around. The teens stuck out like sore thumbs and moved under scrutinizing gazes. Gi leaned closer to Kwame feeling a little uncomfortable with the attention being directed at them. Ling stopped outside a shabby looking house with a sunken in roof. He turned to his followers waiting behind him.

"This is my house. My father should be inside. Come."

He led the way into the tiny domicile. The planeteers stopped shortly inside the front door while Ling went into the back to retrieve his father. He returned shortly with a thin man in tow. The man, presumably his father, had a dirty white tank top on with ripped up green pants and a fair amount of stubble on his face. He looked at the teens expectantly so Kwame stepped forward to discuss the matter at hand. Before he could speak, however, Ling's father spoke.

"My son tells me you five are here to stop that rotten man from stealing the panda's in this area," he said coldly, clearly unhappy with the present situation.

"Yes sir that is correct. Ling told us you could help us fine him."

The man nodded his head before saying, "The people of this village have been very unhappy about Plunder's presence in our province. He's been taking our pandas and destroying our rice paddies and forests along the way. Unfortunately we do not have the means or power to stop him," he finished with a tiresome sigh.

"Well that's where we come in Mr. . . ." Wheeler trailed off.

"Fa," the man stated simply.

"Alright then, Mr. Fa, you just point us in the right direction and we'll take care of the rest," Gi smiled.

"But how? He is a powerful man with very powerful weapons and you are just kids," Mr. Fa bluntly pointed out.

"Don't you worry about us, we're far from unarmed," Wheeler smirked taping his ring.

Mr. Fa stared at them seriously then walked over to a desk on the other side of the room. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a colorful piece of paper that was folded several times. He walked back over to Kwame and unfolded it before him revealing a map of the area. Mr. Fa pointed at a cluster of trees on the map down river from the village.

"Plunder set up camp in this area. Be cautious in approaching though. He's set up booby traps all around the surrounding area to catch pandas and also intruders."

Kwame took the map from him and pocketed it.

"Thank you for the warning and your help."

Mr. Fa bowed slightly in response, "Good luck young ones."

The planeteers said their farewells and headed out of the town to take care of business.

**xXxXxXx**

Wheeler jumped down another set of rocks on the way along the ravine.

"Man, why can't these jamokies ever pick a spot for their base that isn't a pain in the ass to get to?" he complained as he jumped to the next boulder.

Gi jumped onto a set next to the irritated American. "Come on, Wheeler, this is part of what makes the job interesting! Plus it keeps us in shape," she finished with a playful wink.

Kwame stopped a few rocks behind them and took out the map again. "According to the map, we have to follow along this gorge. The cluster of trees Plunder is stationed in is somewhere off to the side of this ravine."

"Gee, that really narrows it down," Wheeler griped sarcastically.

He moved to jump off another rock but slipped and slid the rest of the way down landing in a heap in some bushes. Linka rushed down to help him. She jumped hard off the edge of a sharp rock and skipped the last three landing near the bush Wheeler was laying in. His head popped out of the bush with a dazed look on his face. She grasped his arm and hoisted him out.

"Thanks, babe," he said while shaking some twigs out of the unruly flame atop his head.

"Wheeler, are you alright?" she asked.

"The only thing injured is my pride," he admitted sheepishly.

The rest of the group made their way down as quickly as they could.

"How did you jump that far, Linka?" Ma-Ti asked in awe once they made it down.

"I was the long jump champion at my high school two years in a row," she said indifferently.

Wheeler flashed her a rueful smile as he said, "Wow, hot, smart, and athletic. Man, Linka, you're one hell of a catch."

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly at his remark.

"This is no time to be joking around!" she hissed and turned away in a huff.

Wheeler's smile fell as she stalked off to continue their mission. Kwame and Gi hurried after the irritated girl. Ma-Ti noticed his teammate's crescent fallen face and patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"Do not lose heart my friend. Linka's not mad at you it's just that she's still trying to cope with what happened to Boris. She blames herself," he said forlornly, "But she will be okay eventually."

"I hope you're right, little buddy," Wheeler replied, although there were traces of doubt on his face.

Ma-Ti grinned warmly, "Trust in my heart power."

The pair ran to catch up with the others. The group traveled in relative silence until they suddenly heard rustling and growling behind some trees a little ways off in the bush. They stopped and listened for a moment.

"It sounds like a struggling animal, "Ma-Ti determined.

Kwame waved at the others to follow his lead. The team made their way through the thicket in search of the being responsible for the noise. Kwame pulled a giant branch out of the way and a terrified panda trapped in a wire mesh net suspended from a thick tree limb was revealed.

"We must help him!" Ma-Ti cried out and rushed forward.

"Ma-Ti, wait!" Kwame ordered.

He tried to grab the boy as he ran past but missed. The young teen made it half way to the panda bear when another net snapped up from the ground and snagged him. It happened so fast he was dangling from the tree in a matter of seconds.

"Ma-Ti, are you okay?!" Gi cried.

"Yes, just startled," he replied.

The others edged closer to the boy keeping an eye out for other traps. Once they were sure it was safe, they scrambled over to their encaged friend. Wheeler examined the netting before saying, "Don't worry, little buddy. I'll get ya down. It's gonna take some time to burn through this though so hold tight."

Wheeler raised his ring and aimed it at the section connecting the net to the tree.

"No, Wheeler, help the panda first!" Ma-Ti insisted.

Linka was investigating the area for signs of the poachers when she noticed a red beaker flashing and beeping quietly on the tree with the panda. She looked over at the tree Ma-Ti was stuck in and saw an identical beaker. She took a moment to process what that meant then her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

"Guys, we are about to have company!" she shouted and proceeded to direct their attention to the discrete device.

Gi eyed the tiny toy suspiciously. "What are those?"

"They are homing devices! The people who set them know these traps have been triggered and they will be coming to collect what they caught!"

As if on cue the ground started to shake slightly and the gang could hear the roar of an enormous engine steadily approaching.

Link looked over to Wheeler and shouted, "Hurry, Wheeler! We have to get Ma-Ti out of here!"

"I'm tryin', babe, but this net's made of wire!"

Another string snapped under the unyielding heat from the beam of fire his ring was generating but there were still several more.

"Shit, there's no way I'm gonna break this net in time!" Wheeler cursed, frustrated.

"Then we must call Captain Planet," Kwame announced in a calming voice, "Let our powers combine! Earth!"

Wheeler pulled his ring away from the net and aimed it into the air to meet Kwame's beam. "Fire!"

Linka raised her ring to the sky. "Wind!"

Her ring fizzled and blinked sporadically a few times then nothing, as if she hadn't just tried to call forth her power. She pulled her hand back and stared at the malfunctioning piece of jewelry confused. Everyone else was silent, unsure of what to do. Kwame and Wheeler still had beams of light shooting forth from their rings as they stared at their teammate expectantly waiting for her light blue beam to join next.

"Come on, babe. Jump start that sucker so we can call Cap!" Wheeler said impatiently.

"I am trying!" she yelled as panic started to seep into her body.

She jerked her hand forward again and recalled the name of her element. Again her ring fizzled and died.

"What's going on, Linka?" Gi finally asked.

I do not know! My ring, it will not work!" she replied, terror rising in her voice.

She suddenly felt naked, completely vulnerable. How could her ring stop working? Why? She shook her hand as if to shake some power out of her lifeless ring but of course it did nothing to help. Wheeler and Kwame finally pulled their rings down, interrupting the steady beams of green and red that had been flowing from them. The planeteers just stood there, dumbfounded by their current situation. All the while the rumbling of a vehicle engine was quickly becoming louder. Birds were flying out of the trees over head signaling the proximity of the approaching threat.

"Hurry, you guys must get out of here!" Ma-Ti suddenly shouted.

"We cannot leave you, Ma-Ti," Kwame replied earnestly.

"Please go! We'll all be in trouble if they catch you too!" he tried to reason with the African teen.

Kwame looked at the young boy hard before addressing the rest of the team. "Ma-Ti is right. We have to go now!"

He headed for seclusion with Gi in tow. Wheeler moved to follow but Linka just stood there, gazing hypnotically at her dysfunctional ring, dismay and confusion swirling in her piercing green eyes. Wheeler looked back and saw the blonde still rooted to the spot. He swiftly ran back to her and took hold of her arm firmly snapping her out of her trance.

"Come on, babe, we gotta go!"

"But Ma-Ti, we cannot just leave him!"

"We don't have a choice!"

He pulled her roughly forcing her to move. As they headed for hiding he looked back over his shoulder at the boy dangling from the tree.

"Don't worry, little buddy, we'll be back for you as soon as we can!"

The couple raced through the brush for safety, Wheeler half dragging Linka. Her legs moved mechanically while her mind was frantic with worry for both the young boy they left behind and her powerless ring.

_Bohze moy! What is happening?!_

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N:** Well that's chapter 6. Again I am really sorry it took this long and that it's not super long either (only about 11 pages) but I guess it's better than nothing. Please leave a review, especially if you are new to this story, and let me know what you think or what you think of the development thus far, I really appreciate it! I got some really good reviews for the last chapter but I also got a question that others of you might have been thinking so I'm going to go ahead and answer it. **Kaika-sama asked why I didn't do a take on addict Link and that's a good question.** Well, mostly it's because I didn't like that part of the episode to be honest. I just really felt that Linka would never have fallen for such a silly trick (you know when Boris sneaked Bliss in a sandwich he bought for her). And even if she did end up taking it accidentally I think she would have realized what had happened and done everything she could to get help right away rather than just join Scum's ranks and be doped up all day. I also don't think she would have assumed he could kick a drug habit so easily either. Linka is very smart and I think it insults her intelligence to assume she would have. Plus it also didn't really fit in with what was going on, like how I was supposed to have her end up using it. So that's why I didn't go that way. Sorry if anyone else was disappointed they didn't get to see that, but I do appreciate Kaika-sama's honest feedback! **Another reviewer, brachan90, liked that I didn't go that way so I guess it balances out right?** lol Can't please everyone all the time. Hopefully anyone disappointed by that still likes where the story is going! Anyway see you all in chapter 7, I hope.

_**SakuraJade**_

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	7. The Power of Self Doubt

**A/N: **So . . . I totally know it's been too long guys and I'm really sorry about that. But more tragedy struck my family shortly after that bad month of Oct '07. We found out my dad had lung cancer in Feb of '08 and he passed away in April '09. We also lost one of our dogs shortly before that (hit by a car so it was unexpected) and I had to put my cat of 16 yrs down a year ago in May b/c he had oral cancer. I'm really tired of loved ones dying . . . But yeah, I kind of lost my drive for this story for a bit but I've recently had some new ideas for it so here's the long awaited update!

_**Captain Planet info: **_For those who would still like to watch CP, my family went with a new satellite provider recently and now we get **Boomerang** (a division of Cartoon Network) and I have been able to confirm for myself that CP is still shown on that channel. It's on at 5am Monday through Friday! Needless to say I tivo it and watch it later in the day lol I'm also recording them all, I just wish I knew how to put that stuff on the net, I'd do it in a heartbeat since no one has bothered to release this show on dvd yet. Anyone know how? Also, the **Mother Nature Network** is currently doing a tribute to CP! For 12 months they are showing episodes (picked at random it seems since the ones available are from a couple of different seasons) online at their website. I'm not sure if they add a new ep once a week or what, but you can watch back eps too. They also have quizzes and an interview with someone that has to do with the show. It's kind of cool :) And I also checked a site called **GUBA** (kind of like youtube) again recently and there are still several eps available to watch on that website too. So go crazy! Hehehe

_Disclaimer:_ "I don't own Captain Planet and the Planeteers or anything related to it for that matter, Ted Turner and TBS/Hana-barbara do as far as I know. This story is completely for the fun of writing and sharing. Also the Woolong Nature Preserve in this chapter is a real place and its involvement in this story is purely fictitious."

_italics _means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 7: The Power of Self Doubt_

Ma-Ti watched anxiously as a hummer dragging a big iron cage on wheels behind it, stopped near him. The others had gotten out of their just in time. The pony-tailed man in the cheap suit from Gaia's planet viewer stepped out of the passenger side, while a skin head with a mustache emerged from the driver's side. Ma-Ti was immediately hit with a bad vibe. Due to his ring, he could feel negative energy rolling off the pair of poachers in waves. Although he didn't need the power of heart to know they were bad news.

"Well, well, well. What have we here," the pony-tailed man said as he approached the net Ma-Ti was trapped in.

"Does this look like a panda to you, Bleak?" he asked as he looked back at the skin head.

"No, Plunder, it don't."

"I didn't think so." Tired of the game, Plunder addressed Ma-Ti. "You're no panda. In fact," he eyed the young boy critically, "You're not even Chinese. So the question is, who are you and how did you get here?"

"Leave the panda's alone!" Ma-Ti shouted, not bothering to answer Looten Plunder.

"'He's probably one of those annoying animal rights activists from PETA or somethin'," Bleak suggested in his Australian accent.

"What are you doing out here, kid?"

"I've come to stop you!" Ma-Ti declared bravely.

Plunder laughed in his face outright. Bleak glanced around the area and noticed the foot prints the other planeteers left in the soft soil.

"He didn't come here alone, Boss," Bleak pointed at the tracks. "From the looks of these tracks, he was with at least three or four other people."

Looten raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Where are the others you came here with?"

"I do not know and even if I did I would never tell you!" Ma-Ti spit.

Giving up on the boy, Plunder walked towards the trapped panda to check their catch. "Get him down from there and toss him in the cage, Bleak. If his friends come poking around our camp he'll be the one to pay for it."

Bleak sniggered as he let the wire mesh net down. Ma-Ti hit the ground with a rough thud. Bleak snatched his wrist before he could take off and dragged him to the cage. He noticed the silver ring on the boy's finger and immediately took it.

"Give that back!" Ma-Ti cried.

"You won't be needin' it where you're 'eaded!" Bleak sneered as he hoisted Ma-Ti up and threw him into the cage. The door slammed shut with a loud clang. Bleak checked out the ring, but was sorely disappointed to find a picture of a heart in the center rather than a precious stone.

"Piece a junk, probably isn't even made of real silver," he grumbled in disgust. Figuring it nothing but a cheap toy, he flicked the ring away as he headed to help Plunder retrieve the panda. Ma-Ti's ring hit the tree he had been caught in and rolled on the ground a few times before coming to a stop nearby.

**xXxXxXx**

Wheeler dragged Linka along roughly. Once he was sure they were out of harms way, he stopped abruptly. Caught off guard, Linka bumped into him and bounced back a bit.

"We should be far enough away," he said as he sat down on a large boulder to catch his breath. "I wonder where Kwame and Gi are," he commented.

Linka didn't respond. She was too busy staring at her ring again, dumbfounded by its lack of power.

Wheeler watched her intently for a second before finally asking, "What happened back there, Linka?"

She looked up from her ring and he saw the lost look in her bright green eyes.

"I do not know," her eyes began to mist up as she continued, "but I failed Boris and now I have failed Ma-Ti!"

Wheeler shoved off from the rock. "Whoa whoa, it's okay, babe," he said as he enveloped her in a hug. "We'll get Ma-Ti back safe and sound, you'll see."

Despite his efforts, tears began to leak out of Linka's eyes and soak into the shoulder of his jacket, darkening the light brown fabric. She gripped the front of his shirt with her tiny fists and simply let them flow. Wheeler tightened his hold on her and rubbed a hand along her back in a soothing gesture. He hated to see her cry. The night her cousin died she cried for hours and it nearly tore him apart. He laid in bed that night unable to do anything but listen to her heart wrenching sobs as they carried on into the wee hours of the morning. There wasn't anything he could do but let her cry and he knew it. It made him feel helpless and it was a feeling he despised. It had been one of the worst nights of his life. He had no idea someone else's sorrow could be so painful to him until that night.

"We'll figure this out, Linka, I promise."

Linka sniffled slightly, her tears finally beginning to ebb away at his words.

"Thank you, Wheeler, I-"

She stopped when they heard rustling in the bushes nearby.

Wheeler instinctively pushed Linka behind him as he held his ring out defensively. A second later Kwame and Gi emerged from the brush. Wheeler exhaled loudly and dropped his arm.

"Jeeze, you two startled us."

"Sorry my friend," Kwame apologized.

Linka wiped the remaining tears from her eyes discreetly. "I am glad you two managed to find us."

"So what do we do now?" Gi asked. "Without Linka's power we can't call Captain Planet . . ."

"Then we'll just hafta rescue Ma-Ti and stop Looten Plunder on our own," Wheeler said with gusto.

"Even if we can, we still do not know what happened to Linka's power," Kwame pointed out.

Suddenly Gaia's transparent figure materialized in front of them.

"Thank Goodness you came, Gaia, we are in a bit of a pickle," Kwame admitted.

"My power, it will not work!" Linka cried. "And now Ma-Ti is in trouble because of it."

She turned her eyes on Linka. "I know. I saw it through my planet viewer. I was afraid this was going to happen," she claimed. "This was the 'disastrous consequence' I was talking about earlier when I told you not to doubt your worth. Self doubt is a negative energy. It affects you like pollution affects this planet. Basically, it's polluting your mind, Linka. Until you pull yourself out of this dangerous frame of mind, I'm afraid your ring will remain unresponsive."

"But I do not know how to stop feeling like this . . ." Linka whispered, eyes downcast.

A sympathetic smile found its way to Gaia's face. "You'll find your way back to the light when it matters most," she said before disappearing.

"Lot of help that was," Wheeler scoffed.

"One thing worries me," Kwame said as he put a hand to his chin in thought. "Ma-Ti hasn't contacted us since we split up."

"You're right! Do you think he's okay?!" Gi asked, worry evident in her voice.

"I am not sure. I was hoping he would use his ring to tell us where he is, but since he hasn't I suggest we make our way back to the tree he was trapped in and start there."

**xXxXxXx**

When they reached the camp, Bleak took a kicking Ma-Ti out of the hummer cage and tossed him haphazardly into a new holding cell off to the side. There were many other cages in the area, all trapping pandas within them. Ma-Ti kicked the door of his new prison even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good.

"What are you going to do with the pandas?!" Ma-Ti demanded.

"Why make money off them of course!" Plunder answered as he climbed out of the hummer. "The black market is full of buyers. Baby pandas are wanted as exotic pets and adult pelts fetch a hefty price. And let's not forget the zoos. Why, to get a panda on loan from China with a 10 year contract costs 1,000,000 US dollars a year! That makes them the most expensive animal to have in a zoo. Even the mighty elephant falls second. And at that price for a measly 10 year loan, zoos will jump at the chance to actually own pandas for the same amount."

"You won't get away with this!" Ma-Ti growled, enraged.

A devious smile crawled across Plunder's lips. "Ah, that's the beautiful part. I already have. This area we are in is actually the Woolong Nature Preserve. Through some . . . ingenious business ventures on my part I've obtained permission to take the pandas as I want."

"You mean you paid the local authorities off!" Ma-Ti accused.

Plunder shrugged, not bothering to deny it. "You have to spend money to make money."

Ma-Ti shook his head in disbelief. "But they are an endangered species!"

"Well, when we run out of pandas here, we'll just head over to the next nature preserve. Woolong is only one of seven in this province."

"And when you've wiped out the entire species?!"

"Then I guess we'll just have to move on to new species then won't we?" he asked tauntingly. "What do you say, Bleak? You up for hunting elephants in Africa next? Ivory still turns quite a profit!"

Bleak let out a boorish laugh. "Sounds like a plan to me, Plunder."

Ma-Ti glared at the pair of poachers, frustrated with their heartless attitudes. "When I get out of here my friends and I will stop you!"

Bleak snorted. "Ha! You ain't goin' anywhere! And we'll take care of your friends too when they show up. The only reason you're even still alive is so we 'ave a little leverage."

He kicked the bars of Ma-Ti's pen once before walking off with Plunder. Unable to do anything, Ma-Ti leaned against the back of his cage and slid down to the ground.

**xXxXxXx**

The four planeteers found their way back to the area where they left Ma-Ti but it was empty. Both Ma-Ti and the panda were missing. Even the nets they had been in were gone. Looking around the area for clues, Kwame noticed the large tread marks left by the tires of Plunder's hummer.

"Well, at least they left us a trail," he commented as he bent down to examine them.

"That is not all that was left behind," Linka said as she scooped something off the ground near the tree Ma-Ti had been captured in. She turned to face the others as she held out the tiny, circular object.

"It's Ma-Ti's ring!" Gi exclaimed.

Wheeler groaned. "Great. Now even if Linka does get her power back we still won't be able to call Cap."

"Well, at least this explains why Ma-Ti hasn't contacted us," Kwame stated as he took the ring from Linka and placed it in the breast pocket of his tan colored vest. "Where ever Ma-Ti is, we should find him at the end of these tire marks."

The gang set out to find their missing member.

**xXxXxXx**

A couple miles away the tracks came to a stop. The group climbed up a hill that over looked the camp and peaked over the edge. The camp was situated next to a small river and consisted of a few tents and several pandas in cages. A helicopter sat motionless in the middle. A few people were milling about armed.

"Looten's lackeys no doubt," Wheeler whispered as he eyed the men with guns.

"There's Ma-Ti," Gi exclaimed in a hushed voice as she pointed to the boy locked in a big cage on the other side of the camp. He was sitting on the bottom; his back slumped against the iron bars.

"Alright, it is time to drive these poachers out. I'll start by shaking things up," Kwame announced as he pointed his ring at the ground. "Earth!"

The ground began to shake violently startling the poachers. Kwame headed down the hill for the camp closely followed by Gi.

"My turn! Water!" At her command the water from the river flowed over its bank and rushed through the camp, washing away some of the tents and weapons and disorienting the men further.

Wheeler stood up to join Kwame and Gi. "I'm gonna go help them, Linka, you-"

He stopped short when he turned to look at her and realized she was no longer beside him. He looked around and saw her rushing down the hill towards Ma-Ti.

"Oh man! Linka, wait!" he called out, heading after her. She was fast, already close to Ma-Ti's cage, but she was defenseless without her wind power. Since she couldn't protect herself he was going to.

Plunder emerged from one of the tents to the mayhem Kwame and Gi were causing. He scowled at the pair, already assuming they were the others that had been with the boy he found. He had expected them to come looking for their missing friend, whom he had planned to hold as a hostage. But he hadn't counted on them possessing such strange and awesome powers. Caught off guard by their assault, he hurried towards the chopper. Once most of the men were running away in panic, Kwame and Gi began releasing the pandas from their cages.

"Ma-Ti!" Linka cried as she neared his cage. The boy looked up and smiled at the blonde.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you," he said honestly.

"I will get you out of here." She started to undo the latches. Suddenly Ma-Ti's eyes widened as a shadow fell over Linka.

"Linka, look out!" he warned her.

She turned around in time to see a beefy bald man swing a thick, metal pipe at her. She jumped away and the pole clanged loudly as it banged against the thick iron bars of Ma-Ti's cage. Bleak took another swing at Linka and she jumped away again.

"Stand still you wench!" he snarled as he took a quicker swipe.

Linka cried out and was flung back a bit as he managed to catch her shoulder with the tip of the pipe. She leaned against a nearby tree, slightly out of breath. He stalked towards her, the pipe pulled back the way a baseball player would swing a bat.

"I'll bet you're sorry you decided to fuck with us, eh love?" he sneered, his voice heavy with his Australian accent.

The earth began to shake again from Kwame's power and it threw Bleak off for a second, giving Wheeler the chance to get close enough. After regaining his footing, Bleak made to swing the pipe at Linka again, intent on doing some serious damage, but it became blisteringly hot and he dropped it in response.

"Fire!" Wheeler shouted again, his ring aimed at Bleak.

He managed to dodge the beam. Weaponless and seeing Wheeler heading for him, he decided to run back into the camp.

"Are you okay!?" Wheeler asked as he reached Linka.

"Do not worry about me, get Ma-Ti!"

They moved for the cage and were almost to it when Wheeler shouted, "Get down!" He tackled her to the ground just as Looten fired a shot gun at them from the copilot seat of his chopper. Bleak was piloting it towards them.

Together they tumbled further down the hill from the momentum of Wheeler's tackle. He wrapped his arms around Linka in an attempt to protect her from the fall as best he could. When they finally stopped they laid there motionless for a moment, tangled together, and tried to catch their breath. After a few seconds Wheeler helped Linka to her feet and they headed back up the hill. As they reached the top they saw Looten and Bleak lifting the helicopter into the air, Ma-Ti's cage attached to the bottom of it.

"Stop!" Linka yelled.

"You might have ruined our business here but don't count it as a victory yet!" Looten announced over a speaker system. "Your friend will be paying for the money you cost us with his life!"

Wheeler and Linka ran after the helicopter and met up with Kwame and Gi.

"We cannot let them leave with Ma-Ti, they will kill him!" Linka cried to her companions.

"But what can we do?! We can't even call Captain Planet!" Gi replied as they all chased after the helicopter.

Bleak flew the chopper out over a gorge and the planeteers stopped at the edge of it, unable to pursue them further.

Plunder's devious laugh could be heard over the loud speaker. "Let this be a lesson to you for getting involved in things you shouldn't!"

He pulled a lever in the chopper and Ma-Ti's cage was released. The others cried out helplessly as he began to plummet towards the bottom of the deep canyon, cage and all. Plunder's vile laugh faded into the distance as the chopper flew on.

"Do something!" Ma-Ti pleaded as his cage fell below the edge they were standing on.

"Linka, use your ring!" Wheeler yelled.

"But it will not work!"

"You hafta make it work or Ma-Ti's toast!"

Linka pointed her ring at the falling cage. "Wind!" she ordered. As she feared nothing happened.

"Come on, Linka!" Wheeler cried.

Linka shook her hand willing it to work as she watched Ma-Ti's cage gain momentum. "Wind!" she called again as she continued to shake it. The cage was getting farther away. "Come on, please! Work damn it!" she shrieked.

An enormous gust of wind burst forth from her ring, so powerful in it's expulsion that she was thrown back slightly. Wheeler quickly flung his arms out to catch her as she crashed into him. He held on to her to keep her steady.

"Alright!" he cheered as Linka's enormous gale swirled around the cage and began to slow its descent.

She gritted her teeth at the weight of the cage and the amount of power it took to slow it down. Small tremors were coursing through her body and she had to grip her right wrist with her left hand to keep steady. She could feel her strength quickly ebbing away.

"I do not know how long I can keep this up! The cage is heavy and it is a long way down!" she admitted, already becoming breathless from the strain. "I do not think I have enough power to guide it all the way to the ground!"

"Then I will meet you half way," Kwame said as he cast his ring toward the floor of the canyon. "Earth!"

A large, flat chunk of rock began to make its way up to meet the cage.

"Please hurry, Kwame, I am losing my hold on it!" she cried as she could feel her power draining fast.

Black spots were beginning to form in front of her vision and she was starting to feel light headed. She could feel her conscious thought slipping away from her.

_Please, just a little longer . . . _she mentally pleaded with herself.

When the cage was only a few feet from the rock formation Kwame had created Linka lost control of her power and the gigantic swirling ball of wind that had engulfed Ma-Ti's cage blasted out forcefully before dispersing into the air. When the bubble of air exploded, Linka's entire body went slack in Wheeler's arms instantly and sagged against him. He was so caught off guard by the sudden shift in her weight that he almost fell over with her but he managed to hang on and lowered himself to the ground with her. The cage was dropped the rest of the way to the rock unceremoniously. Ma-Ti landed with a grunt but was safe otherwise. Kwame proceeded to lower the platform of earth Ma-Ti's cage was resting on.

"Linka! Linka, answer me!" Wheeler called as he kneeled on the ground with Linka placed limply across his knees. He gave her a slight shake in an attempt to rouse her but her head simply lulled to the side. "Come on, Linka, please!" Despite his pleas she remained unresponsive. The only sign of life was the slow rise and fall of her chest.

He looked up at Kwame, his eyes a mixture of confusion and worry. "What happened to her?!"

Kwame shook his head. "I do not know. Maybe Gaia will be able to tell us. But first we must retrieve the Geo-Cruiser and Ma-Ti."

"You guys go, I'll stay here with Linka," Wheeler said, his eyes falling back onto his unconscious teammate.

Kwame nodded. "We will be back as soon as we can. Let's go, Gi."

They set off back into the surrounding jungle. Half way back to the Geo-Cruiser, Kwame noticed that Gi had been unusually quiet during their hike.

"Are you alright, Gi? You've been awfully quiet."

She shrugged, not bothering to lift her eyes to meet Kwame's. "I guess."

Kwame raised an eyebrow. "You guess?" he repeated.

She finally looked at him, her eyes serious. "I just . . . I can't believe how close we came to losing Ma-Ti. I mean if Linka hadn't been able to get her ring to work or if she hadn't had enough strength to hold on that long he would be dead right now."

Kwame sighed. "I know."

"And I mean for what? Because some jerk got screwed out of making money off panda's illegally? He didn't need to try and kill Ma-Ti."

"No he did not," Kwame agreed.

"Then why do it?"

"Gi, it is an unfortunate fact that some people out there truly are evil. Looten Plunder is just one of those men," Kwame answered.

Gi shook her head. "I just don't know how some people can be so heartless and cruel."

"That makes two of us."

**xXxXxXx**

It did not take Gi and Kwame long to get the Geo-Cruiser back to the others. They picked Wheeler and Linka up first before heading to the bottom of the canyon to release Ma-Ti from his confinement. Ma-Ti was overjoyed when Kwame returned his ring to him. Despite the long trip back to Hope Island, Linka did not wake. It made the trip excruciatingly long for Wheeler. He occupied the seat next to her and spent the duration of the trip checking on her to see if her status had changed in the slightest. He took a hold of her hand and examined her ring. The sky blue squiggly lines seemed slightly faded, and the dark blue background seemed lighter and more washed out than usual. When they finally made it back to the island they immediately headed for the Crystal Chamber in search of Gaia. When Wheeler came in carrying a comatose Linka a look of surprise found its way to her face.

"What happened?!" Gaia asked.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Kwame said.

"She got her power back," Wheeler started, "but after usin' it to save Ma-Ti from bein' smeared all over the bottom of a canyon she blacked out and she's been unconscious since!"

Gaia approached Wheeler and placed a hand to Linka's forehead as she peered at the sleeping girl. After a minute she looked up and spoke. "She's going to be fine, she just over did it."

"What do you mean?" Ma-Ti asked.

"She used so much of her power at once that she exhausted herself to the point of losing consciousness in the process. The strain of using that much power was too great. She needs a chance to recharge. After a long rest her powers will be rejuvenated and she'll be as good as new."

Wheeler let out a sigh of relief.

"You all need to be careful in the future when using your powers though," Gaia continued. "If you push yourself too hard with your powers then you'll be left weak and vulnerable. It's the same thing when you call Captain Planet. He draws his powers from your rings and in essence, you. The longer he his out the more of a drain you will feel. If out long enough, eventually your energy will be too low to sustain him anymore and he will have to return to the earth whether he's done helping you or not," Gaia finished.

"We will keep that in mind," Kwame said.

"Yeah, it could mean the difference between victory and defeat," Gi added.

Gaia nodded, "Exactly. That is why it is imperative that you practice with your powers when you can. The more you practice the greater your control will be and the stronger they will become. Which means using your powers will take less of a toll on you and so will summoning Captain Planet."

Wheeler shifted Linka's weight in his tired arms. She wasn't too heavy for him, but the muscles in his arms were starting to tire from holding her so long. "Well now that we know Linka's gonna be okay, I'm gonna go put her in her room," he announced as he walked out.

He made the short trek from the Crystal Chamber to their living quarters down the beach. He placed her lithe form on the bed and tucked her in.

"Don't scare me like that again, babe," he whispered as he gently brushed her soft, yellow bangs from her forehead. She gave a content sigh in response and he smiled lopsidedly. After running his fingers through her bangs once more he made his retreat, closing the door softly behind him.

_**To be continued . . .**_

**A/N: **Okay, that's the end of the first mission against Plunder. I tried to make him more sinister so I hope I succeeded. The info in here about pandas and the nature preserve etc. is all stuff I looked up. Also, I don't know that Bleak is Australian for sure, but he always sounded like it to me. Correct me if I'm wrong and I'll be happy to fix it! I hope you enjoyed the Linka and Wheeler moments. I decided to add a bit more between them since **brachan90** commented that she was a little disappointed that Wheeler wasn't comforting Linka more after Boris's death. More will be revealed about the actual source of the planeteers' powers, how over doing it isn't the only thing they have to worry about, and how their emotions can play a vital role in their ability to use and control them. So be looking forward to the plot deepening! See-ya next time :)

_**SakuraJade**_


	8. START

**A/N: **In keeping with the current trend, another one of my relatives passed away between updates. Shortly after Christmas my aunt passed away. She was the widow of my late uncle (my late father's twin). She was diabetic and had a slew of other heath issues. Her brother woke up and found her already gone. She was one of my favorite relatives so I really miss her :(

_**Chapter Dedication:**_ This upload is in honor of Earth Day and this chapter is in honor of the nuclear arms treaty the US and Russia just signed on the 8 of this month (April) to replace the old treat that was signed on July 31st, 1991 between the US and the USSR. The old one recently expired and so they agreed to sign a new one to limit the amount of nuclear arms each country can test and have. Now that's something worth celebrating :) Happy Earth Day!

_Disclaimer:_ "I don't own Captain Planet and the Planeteers or anything related to it for that matter. Ted Turner and TBS/Hana-barbara do as far as I know. This story is completely for the fun of writing and sharing."

_italics _means thoughts

**Following Destiny**

_Chapter 8: The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty_

A tall man in a pristine white lab coat swiftly walked down a metallic hallway in an underground research facility. He had short hair that was blood red in color and sharp green eyes. As he neared the end of the long, narrow hallway, a thick door made of lead came into view along with a guard standing next to it.

"ID and authorization badge," the guard requested once the man in the lab coat reached him.

"Certainly," the man replied as he pulled out the requested information. As the guard verified his ID badge, the man said, "Seems the higher ups have decided to reprocess the spent fuel we placed in the cooling pond from the last reactor."

After critically eyeing the other man's identification card and authorization badge, the soldier handed them back and proceeded to unlock the heavy door behind them.

"Thank you," the red-head said as he stepped through the door.

As soon as he was past the guard a fiendish grin found its way to his face. It really was too easy. All he had to do was get the radioactive waste reprocessed and he could use the resulting plutonium for his own experiments back at his private lab. The US government didn't listen to him when he suggested the direction he wanted to take with nuclear waste. They called his ideas unethical and shot them down instantly. Well, he'd show them, he'd show the world! He found a foreign investor who was so intrigued by his ideas that he monetarily backed him instantly, as long as all the test results went back to his country. That was fine with him. He didn't care who took the results of his experiments or what they did with the data; as long as he got to run with his ideas and was paid for the results he had no problem with any of it.

Several hours later, he remerged from behind the door in need of a break.

"You were back there for a really long time," the guard commented as he began relocking the door.

"Yes well, it's a lengthy process," the redhead explained.

As he worked on the security clearance locks, he spoke. "It's a shame that the waste from reactors is so dangerous that we have to have all this security in place. If the US signs that arms treaty that's been in the news the amount of nuclear waste will be cut in half and we'll have less to worry about. That sure would be nice."

The man in the lab coat frowned. That certainly wouldn't do.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka stood silently at the edge of the shore, a small container in her hands. She took a deep breath and, without a word, she reached into the container and pulled out a handful of sooty ashes and threw them into the air.

She pointed her ring forward and softly said, "Wind."

The ashes swirled through the air as the gentle gust took them further out to sea. Linka watched as they slowly drifted down and disappeared into the rolling waves of the ocean.

"Good-bye, Boris. May your spirit rest in peace," she whispered.

She sat back down on the damp sand and pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of her shorts. She didn't have to look at it, she'd read it so many times since her Uncle Dmitri had sent it that she had it memorized.

She opened it and re-read it anyway.

_**My dearest Linka,**_

_**I am sending you some of Boris's ashes. Please scatter them for me near your new home. It sounded like such a lovely place that I thought it would be a nice place to lay a part of him to rest. I will scatter some here in Washington D.C. and the rest back home by Natasha's grave. I want you to know that I appreciate how much you and your friends tried to help him. Aside from scattering his ashes, I have one more request of you: stop blaming yourself. I know you feel responsible for Boris's death but nothing could be further from the truth. You did what you could, but in the end, the decision on what to do was ultimately Boris's. You cannot hold yourself accountable for his misguided decisions. Please do not forget that. Keep in touch, Linka. **_

_**Sending all my love,**_

_**Uncle Dmitri**_

Linka refolded the letter and placed it back in her pocket. She wanted to honor her uncle's request, but she found it incredibly difficult when she couldn't get Boris's final accusation out of her head. His words had been a slap in the face and now that he was gone there was nothing she could do to redeem herself in his eyes. He died bitter and angry with her and she could never change that.

It was a heavy burden to bear.

She lost track of time as she sat there reflecting on that thought, watching the gentle rise and fall of the ocean before her. Last week, she woke up in her room with no memory of how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was trying save Ma-Ti in China after Looten Plunder dropped his cage over a cliff. Realizing that she didn't know if Ma-Ti had been saved or not, she rushed from her room to find the others. She was immensely relieved to see Ma-Ti had indeed survived the fall without injury. The other four explained what had happened. She was shocked to find out that she had been asleep for three straight days. Gi informed her that, while she was recovering from her energy depletion, a package had arrived for her. It turned out to be a letter from her Uncle Dmitri along with a small container of her cousin's ashes. Apparently, they had found what was left of Boris's body after the warehouse fire and her uncle had him cremated. His ashes sat in her closet for a week before she was able to get up the nerve to scatter them out at sea.

From down the beach, Wheeler watched as Linka sat at the edge of the water staring out into the clear ocean, a gloomy frown marring her pretty face. With a heavy sigh he walked towards his blonde teammate. When he reached her he silently took a seat next to her. She glanced at him before turning her eyes back to the water. They sat in a companionable quiet, content to just keep each other company.

Suddenly Gaia's transparent face appeared in front of them, ending the moment.

"Gaia, what is the problem?" Linka asked.

"I'm sorry to barge in on you, Linka, but I need all of you at the crystal chamber," Gaia said before abruptly disappearing.

Wheeler rose first and held his hand out to Linka. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. Together they headed for the crystal chamber.

**xXxXxXx**

Once the five eco-teens were present Gaia began. "I called you all here to discuss an important world issue."

"What's up, Gaia?" Wheeler asked.

"As you know, nuclear weapons are of growing concern in today's world. Countries all over the world are developing deadly weapons with the notion that nuclear armament will protect them from other countries with weapons of mass destruction. The real truth though is that if every country that possesses nuclear arms decides to use them, whether offensively or defensively, there will be nothing left for any of us, "Gaia said solemnly.

"That is true, Gaia, but what do you want us to do about it?" Linka asked reasonably.

Gaia smiled. "I'm glad you asked, Linka. The United States and the Soviet Union are the leading countries in nuclear weapons development, holding about ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons. Recently both countries have been discussing the possibility of an arms treaty, which would be largely beneficial to both countries and the world. It is called the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START for short, and its aim is to keep nuclear weapons development and testing in check in the USA and the USSR."

"That is wonderful news," Kwame stated.

"Yes, but I'm afraid it is only in the negotiation stages right now, and both countries are at a stalemate of sorts. Neither can seem to agree on the terms. I was hoping you could attend the conference in Geneva to help rally support for it. After all, the planeteers have a member from both countries on this team who help each other and work together everyday. What better proof that both countries can do great things if they work together?" Gaia finished.

Linka glanced at her American companion. He was staring back at her. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's worth a shot."

"Then we will ready the Geo-Cruiser and head out as soon as it's ready," Kwame announced as the five of them left the crystal chamber.

**xXxXxXx**

An hour later the team was ready to head out when Gaia approached them.

"I'm afraid we have an eco-emergency."

"Now?" Gi asked. "What about that conference?"

"I'm afraid it will have to wait. A brush fire has started in an old growth forest in California. The fire is spreading quickly and it's getting closer to a rural town. The town has a power gas plant there. If the fire reaches it, the explosion will level everything for miles. They need help."

"What terrible timing. We really needed to attend that conference," Linka said disappointedly.

"Well, why don't we just split up then?" Gi suggested. "Kwame, Ma-Ti and I will take the Geo-copter to the US while you and Wheeler take the Geo-Cruiser to Geneva to attend that meeting."

"Alright," Linka agreed. "Stay in touch through Ma-Ti and let us know when you have the situation under control."

"Will do," Gi said as she, Kwame, and Ma-Ti headed further down the beach to the Geo-copter.

"I wonder if it is really okay for us to split up," Linka said as she and Wheeler climbed into the Geo-Cruiser.

"Don't worry, Linka, they'll be fine. They certainly don't need my fire power, and your wind power would just make a big fire like that worse," Wheeler replied as he took a seat next to her. "

"That is true, but what if they need to call Captain Planet?"

"Well, if they need Cap then we'll just call him and see what happens. Either way, I'm sure they're gonna have a more exciting day than we are," he grumbled slightly.

"Perhaps, but in the grand scheme of things, preventing nuclear radiation from ruining the planet is bigger than stopping a wildfire," Linka countered.

"Yeah, that's true. Plus it's just the two of us. We haven't been alone together in a while. It's kinda nice."

A light blush arose on Linka's cheeks but she rolled her eyes none-the-less. "This is not a date, Yankee. This is serious business"

"Hey I didn't say it wasn't. I'm simply saying that if I'm stuck attending some stuff meeting there's no one else I'd rather be stuck with."

Linka eyed him critically. "Thanks, I think . . ."

**xXxXxXx**

Kwame circled the area, looking for a safe place to land the Geo-Copter. Ma-Ti stared at the raging wildfire below them.

"We have our work cut out for us today," he stated.

"We sure do," Gi agreed, "Look at how far it's gotten already. The town is only two miles from here. We're running out of time."

Kwame finally landed the Geo-Copter in a safe spot near the fire trucks that were already on the scene. Unfortunately the water they were spraying wasn't enough. The three teens exited their vehicle and headed for the firemen.

"What are you kids doing here?! You should be evacuating with the rest of the town," one of them yelled over the roar of the fire and the high powered hoses. "You need to leave this area immediately, it's very dangerous!"

"Please, we have come to help," Kwame replied.

"Help!? What on Earth can you do?!"

"More than you think," Gi said.

"We are the planeteers," Ma-Ti added.

The guy stared at the quizzically. "The planet-whats?"

"Look, we don't have time to argue with you!" Gi finally shouted.

"Gi is right," Kwame turned to the youngest. "Ma-Ti, use your heart power to help guide the animals in the area to safety."

"You can count on me," he said before heading off.

"Be careful!" Gi cried after him.

"We will move further out and dig a trench with our rings to act as a barrier between the town and the fire."

"It's going to have to be a pretty big trench," Gi said as she followed after Kwame.

Once they'd hiked a good distance away, Kwame pointed his ring at the ground. "Earth!" he commanded and watched as the dirt before him began to split apart.

**xXxXxXx**

Linka elbowed Wheeler in the side for the third time to jostle him out of his nap. He sat up straighter and pulled at the collar of his deep blue dress shirt. Linka sighed, exasperated by her teammates lack of interest, and crossed one leg over the other as she smoothed out her black knee length skirt. Wheeler found Linka's long, smooth, toned legs more interesting than the debate so he kept himself awake by focusing on those instead. They had been sitting in the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland listening to the US and the USSR go back and forth on conditions that would have to be met in order for the treaty to be signed and enforced for almost two hours. Wheeler knew it was important, and he wanted to help if he could, but he could only take so much.

Just when Wheeler thought he couldn't bare it any longer the mediator said, "We will now open the floor. Does anybody want to speak?"

Linka stood up and walked towards the podium in the middle of the room, Wheeler in tow. "We have something we would like to say."

The man in charge waved his hand at the podium. "The floor is yours."

Linka cleared her throat and adjusted the microphone attached to the podium. "My companion and I belong to the planeteers, a team of five ecologically conscious youths who are trying to protect our planet today so that we can all have a future tomorrow. We could not all be here today, so the two of us came because this issue pertains to us the most. You see I am from the Soviet Union, and my comrade is from the United States. We came today to support this treaty between our two nations and as proof that it is more beneficial for us all if we work together than against each other."

"Right, what she said," Wheeler interjected.

Linka rolled her eyes slightly at his lack of input then continued. "The US and the Soviet Union hold ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons, and for what? If we really wage war with our nuclear arsenals over disagreements there will not be anything left to disagree over. The entire world will pay for it and it is unfair of us to involve other countries in our disputes. Even if we do not use them on each other, we still cause irreversible damage just from testing such devises in our atmosphere and in our oceans. Surely men of your intellectual level can see the long term ramifications nuclear testing will have on our planet. So please, we urge you to compromise and sign this treaty."

She quickly repeated the speech in her native tongue for the non-English speakers present. When she finished for the second time the room was completely silent for a moment before the entire place was filled with the sound of applause. Wheeler smiled at Linka, adoration shining in his eyes. Linka was the smartest person he had ever met, and he admired her for her intelligence, but it also made him feel like he'd never be good enough for her. When all the cards were laid out on the table, she was way out of his league . . .

Wheeler pulled himself from his depressing thoughts and gave Linka a light thump on the back. "Wait to go, babe, I think you really made an impression on them."

Linka smiled warmly at her American companion as the mediator walked back up to the podium. "Thank you, young lady. Your speech was very inspiring. We can all take a page from your book. Now, would anyone else like to speak concerning the matter at hand?"

"Yes, I would," a male voice spoke from within the audience of people.

Everyone turned to see a tall, Caucasian man with short red hair, darker in color than Wheeler's, and eyes of green standing in the back. He simply wore a pair of slacks and a white dress shirt.

The mediator motioned the man towards the podium. "Then you have the floor Mr . . ."

"Newcomb, Marmaduke Newcomb."

**To be continued . . .**

**A/N: **So, does anybody have a guess where this is going? Let me know in a review. I'm interested to see who's picked up on it. Basically I'm taking certain liberties with a character who will ultimately be the same. I know this one is shorter than my normal chapters but this was the best place to stop this chapter otherwise it'd be too long and I didn't know if I'd get it up in time for Earth Day. I'm not completely happy with it either so I may play around with it later. We'll see. Anyway the next chapter should be up soon. **Happy Earth Day!**

_**SakuraJade**_


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